And You Expect Me To Read This?
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and so, of course, it is also the longest psalm. It is 176 verses with 22 sections, eight verses in each section. Each section is dedicated to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and every line in the section, all 16, begins with that letter of the alphabet. On top of this, every line says something different about God’s law or word. This is a very focused poem and an excellent structure.
Of course, it is difficult to read. It is VERY long and it seems very repetitive. And it is just about impossible to preach, due to its length. But we can look at a single section, one section that is very significant to me, dedicated to the Hebrew letter He, and see what it says to us.
Guide me by, O Yahweh, the way of your statutes
And I will keep it as the end.
Give me understanding that I might treasure your teaching
And keep it with all of my heart.
Guide me in the path of your commands
For I deeply desire it.
Direct my heart to your testimonies
And not to unjust gain
Avert my eyes from looking at worthless things.
Direct my life in your paths.
Fulfill your word to your worshipper
That he might revere you.
Turn away the reproach which I dread
For your ordinances are good.
See, I have yearned for your precepts
Keep me alive through your righteousness.
What Are We Talking About?
God’s word is a writing, a listing of God’s guidance for humanity, especially the people who are called by His name. It is God’s speech, written down by humans, filled with how God, the creator of all people should live. It isn’t just a bunch of rules and stories, but as a whole it describes a way of life, a lifestyle in which God’s people are distinct from any other people on earth, and which they can continue to commune with God.
What the Bible Actually Does
God’s word is an important ingredient in living before God. Other peoples seek God’s will through divination or tarot cards or horoscopes. But God’s people have His word, which never changes. It communicates clearly a way of life we are to live, a constant connection with God. It points out that which is evil and will cause us to be destroyed. It also directs us to a positive life, how we can have a purposeful existence. It directs us in the proper worship of God, a way in which He is pleased. And it also offers promises to us, should we live this life that God directs us in.
Empowering the Word
As good and as helpful as God’s word is, it is incomplete in and of itself. The fact is, when God’s word is mixed with human frailty then all we get is a mess. We convince ourselves that God’s word is incomplete, or that it doesn’t really understand our situation that we are in. We convince ourselves that it doesn’t say what it really says. We tell ourselves that the word is too difficult for us to really live out. Or we try to fulfill His promises, only to find out that we fail in that, too. How do we get out of this cycle?
Through God’s power. God wants to help us, and He wants us to live out His word. Not because He’s a control freak, but because He actually wants what’s best for us and for those around us. So He empowers our connection to His word. He strengthens us to live out the word. He brings us to His word to help us know that it is the way to His heart. He helps us understand His word, when we want to avoid it or misinterpret it. But most of all, He will keep his promises, when we can’t. It is not our job to fulfill His promises, but His. And if we wait on Him, he will do it.
The Good Life
For the power of God to live out His word, the psalmist gains great blessings. The psalmist avoids a worthless, meaningless life. His eyes want him to focus on his desires and his heart wants him to seek out comforts that are unrighteous, but God’s word and God’s power helps him avoid all that. Instead, he is able to live a life of obedience. Such a life doesn’t seem very attractive, until we see that God’s full power and love and blessing support a life of obedience. The one who lives according to God’s will is kept alive by God and his deepest desires are met. God transforms his desires to reflect His word and those desires are granted, satisfied completely.
Connecting To The Power Source
So what do we need to do to obtain such a life? How can we be completely satisfied in our lives? How do we have such communion with God and His word that we can be content? The secret of it is found in the psalm although it is never stated plainly. In the He passage, we must note, that every verse is a prayer. This is actually the action of the obedient one to keep him in God’s good graces, to receive of God’s blessing. To obtain the satisfaction of God, satisfaction in God, then we must ask. We must persevere in prayer, seeking God’s life. We will not obtain it today, or perhaps tomorrow. But continuing prayer will do its work when yoga, meditation, bible reading, going to church and going through other rituals will not. Because prayer is connecting to power. One can have a microwave and the microwave will do many great things to help our lives. But only if we have a place to plug it is. God’s word is like that—we have and opportunity for a great, satisfying life in God, but if we do not connect to our Power Source, then we will never obtain anything except frustration.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Last Emperor-- Psalm 110
A Davidic Psalm
This is one of the most controversial Psalms in the Bible, mostly due to Jesus’ interpretation of it. Jesus had an exchange with the leaders of the Jewish nation that went like this:
"How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit, 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET."' David himself calls Him 'Lord'; so in what sense is He his son?" (Mark 12:35-37). Jesus specifically says that Psalm 110 was written by David, although the internal story of the psalm doesn’t indicate that. The idea that Jesus has of this psalm is that David is writing about the Messiah who is not really the so-called “son of David” because a father cannot call a son “lord’. Rather, Jesus says, the messiah is the “son of man” as in Daniel, who is greater than David because David does not himself sit at God’s right hand.
In understanding this psalm, it is clear that it is talking about God support of His King in battle. It could be speaking of any Davidic king, but it is certainly commonly understood to be concerning the Messiah.
Yahweh says to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
Until I make your enemies your footstool."
Yahweh will extend the scepter of your strength from Zion
"Rule in the midst of your enemies."
This is often translated in the confusing manner, “the LORD said to my Lord…” But since the first word is actually God’s name, YHWH, it makes more sense read as that. God is speaking to the king of Israel and promising him that all of his enemies would be defeated. In the meantime, God promises, the king of God would sit at Yahweh’s right hand and so, literally, be God’s “right hand man”. This is the position of co-rule with God himself. It is, more specifically, the position of emperor or “king of kings” where one ruler is placed above all other rulers. Thus, the Messiah is, more than anything else, the emperor of the world, ruling alongside God.
For God to “extend the scepter” is to expand the rule of the emperor over all of his enemies, thus any nation that attempts to take over the people of God.
Your people give themselves willingly on the day your army mobilizes,
From the womb they have arrayed in holy splendor
At dawn, your youth are you as the dew
This verse is very difficult to translate, having many terms that are vague and the metaphorical understanding of “dew” and “womb” is hard to understand. I believe that this passage is speaking of the devotion of the army of the emperor to his kingship. From birth they are prepared to fight to defend their nation against their enemies. The soldiers cover the battlefield as the dew covers the grass.
Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind
"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
God appoints the emperor not only as king, but also as a priest. The priesthood position is inherent in the fact that the emperor sits at God’s right hand. The priest is an intercessor for the people so that they may be heard by God. But this emperor needs no priest, since he already has God’s ear anytime he wants.
The reference to Melchizedek is to Genesis 14, where Abraham, after assaulting a large army, is blessed by the king of Salem (later Jerusalem) who is also a priest. Here, the psalmist says that the king of Jerusalem is both a king and a priest, apart from the Levitical priesthood that also rules over God’s people. So the psalmist is not denying the Levitical priesthood, but is saying that the emperor has his own kind of priesthood, one in connection to kingship of Jerusalem.
The Lord is at your right hand
He crushes kings in the day of his wrath.
He will judge among the nations
With an abundance of corpses.
He will shatter the chiefs over a wide area.
This is a pretty graphic description of God’s war against the enemies of the emperor. God is the one who does the fighting, here, and it is God who defeats the armies that come against Jerusalem. The kings of the enemies will be defeated and their armies will all be destroyed.
He will drink from the stream on the way
Therefore he will lift up his head.
This is also a pretty subtle metaphor. After the battle, God walks away from the battlefield, drink from the stream and lift up his head. Both of these are symbols of victory. And God, ultimately is the one who becomes Lord over the enemies. Yes, God does it for the sake of the emperor, but God gains the glory and the power.
There are two messages of this psalm:
a. God is the only king over His people and
b. The Messiah is God’s emperor who is always able to pray to God without a mediator
This is one of the most controversial Psalms in the Bible, mostly due to Jesus’ interpretation of it. Jesus had an exchange with the leaders of the Jewish nation that went like this:
"How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit, 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET."' David himself calls Him 'Lord'; so in what sense is He his son?" (Mark 12:35-37). Jesus specifically says that Psalm 110 was written by David, although the internal story of the psalm doesn’t indicate that. The idea that Jesus has of this psalm is that David is writing about the Messiah who is not really the so-called “son of David” because a father cannot call a son “lord’. Rather, Jesus says, the messiah is the “son of man” as in Daniel, who is greater than David because David does not himself sit at God’s right hand.
In understanding this psalm, it is clear that it is talking about God support of His King in battle. It could be speaking of any Davidic king, but it is certainly commonly understood to be concerning the Messiah.
Yahweh says to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
Until I make your enemies your footstool."
Yahweh will extend the scepter of your strength from Zion
"Rule in the midst of your enemies."
This is often translated in the confusing manner, “the LORD said to my Lord…” But since the first word is actually God’s name, YHWH, it makes more sense read as that. God is speaking to the king of Israel and promising him that all of his enemies would be defeated. In the meantime, God promises, the king of God would sit at Yahweh’s right hand and so, literally, be God’s “right hand man”. This is the position of co-rule with God himself. It is, more specifically, the position of emperor or “king of kings” where one ruler is placed above all other rulers. Thus, the Messiah is, more than anything else, the emperor of the world, ruling alongside God.
For God to “extend the scepter” is to expand the rule of the emperor over all of his enemies, thus any nation that attempts to take over the people of God.
Your people give themselves willingly on the day your army mobilizes,
From the womb they have arrayed in holy splendor
At dawn, your youth are you as the dew
This verse is very difficult to translate, having many terms that are vague and the metaphorical understanding of “dew” and “womb” is hard to understand. I believe that this passage is speaking of the devotion of the army of the emperor to his kingship. From birth they are prepared to fight to defend their nation against their enemies. The soldiers cover the battlefield as the dew covers the grass.
Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind
"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
God appoints the emperor not only as king, but also as a priest. The priesthood position is inherent in the fact that the emperor sits at God’s right hand. The priest is an intercessor for the people so that they may be heard by God. But this emperor needs no priest, since he already has God’s ear anytime he wants.
The reference to Melchizedek is to Genesis 14, where Abraham, after assaulting a large army, is blessed by the king of Salem (later Jerusalem) who is also a priest. Here, the psalmist says that the king of Jerusalem is both a king and a priest, apart from the Levitical priesthood that also rules over God’s people. So the psalmist is not denying the Levitical priesthood, but is saying that the emperor has his own kind of priesthood, one in connection to kingship of Jerusalem.
The Lord is at your right hand
He crushes kings in the day of his wrath.
He will judge among the nations
With an abundance of corpses.
He will shatter the chiefs over a wide area.
This is a pretty graphic description of God’s war against the enemies of the emperor. God is the one who does the fighting, here, and it is God who defeats the armies that come against Jerusalem. The kings of the enemies will be defeated and their armies will all be destroyed.
He will drink from the stream on the way
Therefore he will lift up his head.
This is also a pretty subtle metaphor. After the battle, God walks away from the battlefield, drink from the stream and lift up his head. Both of these are symbols of victory. And God, ultimately is the one who becomes Lord over the enemies. Yes, God does it for the sake of the emperor, but God gains the glory and the power.
There are two messages of this psalm:
a. God is the only king over His people and
b. The Messiah is God’s emperor who is always able to pray to God without a mediator
Redemption Songs-- Psalm 107
This psalm has no superscription, so we don’t know who wrote it, or in what style. Some think that the psalm was written in the exile period in Babylon, but this is not known. This psalm is very structured, having an introduction, a conclusion and four body stanzas, each giving a different story revolving around the same pattern.
Give thanks to Yahweh for He is good
For his faithful mercy is forever.
Let the redeemed of Yahweh say so
Whom He redeemed from the hand of the enemy
And gathered from the lands
From the east and from the west
From the north and from the south.
This introductory stanza is a general statement which gives a summary of the point of the psalm. God is very merciful to his people and he delivers them from their enemies, which in the psalm is usually described as trials they are facing. The action the psalmist calls us to is to publicly give thanks to Yahweh, which is a statement repeated many times in the psalm.
1. They went astray in the wilderness
Treading in desolation
They found no settled city
Hungry and thirsty
Their soul fainted within them.
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble
He rescued them from their plights.
He guided them by a straight way
To go to a settled city
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful mercy
And for His wonderful works to the sons of men.
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul;
The hungry He filled with good things.
2. Some sat in deepest darkness
In the shadow of death
Shackled in torturous irons
Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High
He humbled their heart through suffering labor
They stumbled with no one to help.
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble;
He rescued them from their plights.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
And tore away their shackles.
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful love
And for his wonders to the sons of men.
For He shattered the doors of bronze
And split the bars of iron.
3. Fools were afflicted because of their evil way
And suffered because of their iniquities.
Their soul loathed all food
They reached the gates of death
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble;
He rescued them from their distresses.
He sent His word and healed them
And delivered them from their death pit.
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful love;
And for his wonders to the sons of men.
Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
And recount his deeds with shouts of joy.
4. Some went down to the sea in ships
Doing business on mighty waters.
They have seen the deeds of Yahweh
And his wonders in the deep.
He commanded and raised a stormy wind
And lifted high the waves
Mounting to the heavens
Then they plunged to the depths
They melted in terror in their misery.
They reeled and staggered like a drunk;
Their skill was for naught.
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble
And he rescued them from their plights.
He stilled the storm to a whisper
So that the waves became silent.
They rejoiced that they quieted
So He guided them to their desired port.
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful mercy
And for his wonders to the sons of men.
Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people
And praise Him in the council of elders.
This four-fold process is given four times in the psalm.
1. Some people are in trouble. Usually it was due to their own fault—they rebelled against God or they were involved in a risky business venture. But they found themselves in danger of their lives. Very strong language is used here—they are starving or they are in a terrible prison, or they are isolated in the wilderness or they are trapped in a storm at sea.
2. The same sentence is given in each stanza—that they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble. This is a simple prayer in the midst of distress, recognizing that God is the only one who can deliver them.
3. In response to that cry, Yahweh does an act to deliver them. The details differ, but usually the same language to describe the trouble is reversed to describe the deliverance. They end up in the opposite situation than they were in.
4. Finally, there is a command for them to thank Yahweh. They thank him for His chesed—his mercy on his people, and for his power in doing things no one else can do. In the final stanza the delivered are told to praise God in the gathering of God’s people.
Four is a number of completeness, and so the four stories are supposed to give a cycle of deliverance of Yahweh. Ultimately, what is communicated is that this works for anyone, in any situation like these.
He turns rivers into a wilderness
And the springs of water into a thirsty ground.
A fruitful land into a salt waste
Because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
He turns the wilderness into a pool of water,
And parched land into springs of water.
There he settles the hungry
And they establish a city for dwelling.
They sow fields and plant vineyards
They gather a fruitful harvest.
He blesses them and they multiply greatly.
And their cattle he does not decrease.
When they are diminished and brought low
Because of oppression, trouble and sorrow
He pours contempt upon rulers
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.
He lifts high the needy from affliction
And makes their families numerous like flocks
The upright see it and rejoice
And all unrighteousness stops it's mouth.
Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things,
And they will consider the faithful mercy of Yahweh.
The final stanza is a general one about God’s actions. God punishes the wicked and those who oppress the poor, but the needy who cry out to Him, God takes their difficulties and burdens and turns them on their head. He provides for their needs, gives them a community to live in, protects them. Finally, there is a statement for how to meditate on this theology. The righteous, the psalmist says, should recognize this pattern and take joy in it. The wicked should just be quiet because they will be judged in this patter. But the wise should pay attention to this pattern, and act in accordance with God’s mercy on the needy.
Give thanks to Yahweh for He is good
For his faithful mercy is forever.
Let the redeemed of Yahweh say so
Whom He redeemed from the hand of the enemy
And gathered from the lands
From the east and from the west
From the north and from the south.
This introductory stanza is a general statement which gives a summary of the point of the psalm. God is very merciful to his people and he delivers them from their enemies, which in the psalm is usually described as trials they are facing. The action the psalmist calls us to is to publicly give thanks to Yahweh, which is a statement repeated many times in the psalm.
1. They went astray in the wilderness
Treading in desolation
They found no settled city
Hungry and thirsty
Their soul fainted within them.
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble
He rescued them from their plights.
He guided them by a straight way
To go to a settled city
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful mercy
And for His wonderful works to the sons of men.
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul;
The hungry He filled with good things.
2. Some sat in deepest darkness
In the shadow of death
Shackled in torturous irons
Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High
He humbled their heart through suffering labor
They stumbled with no one to help.
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble;
He rescued them from their plights.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
And tore away their shackles.
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful love
And for his wonders to the sons of men.
For He shattered the doors of bronze
And split the bars of iron.
3. Fools were afflicted because of their evil way
And suffered because of their iniquities.
Their soul loathed all food
They reached the gates of death
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble;
He rescued them from their distresses.
He sent His word and healed them
And delivered them from their death pit.
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful love;
And for his wonders to the sons of men.
Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices
And recount his deeds with shouts of joy.
4. Some went down to the sea in ships
Doing business on mighty waters.
They have seen the deeds of Yahweh
And his wonders in the deep.
He commanded and raised a stormy wind
And lifted high the waves
Mounting to the heavens
Then they plunged to the depths
They melted in terror in their misery.
They reeled and staggered like a drunk;
Their skill was for naught.
They cried out to Yahweh in their trouble
And he rescued them from their plights.
He stilled the storm to a whisper
So that the waves became silent.
They rejoiced that they quieted
So He guided them to their desired port.
Let them give thanks to Yahweh for his faithful mercy
And for his wonders to the sons of men.
Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people
And praise Him in the council of elders.
This four-fold process is given four times in the psalm.
1. Some people are in trouble. Usually it was due to their own fault—they rebelled against God or they were involved in a risky business venture. But they found themselves in danger of their lives. Very strong language is used here—they are starving or they are in a terrible prison, or they are isolated in the wilderness or they are trapped in a storm at sea.
2. The same sentence is given in each stanza—that they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble. This is a simple prayer in the midst of distress, recognizing that God is the only one who can deliver them.
3. In response to that cry, Yahweh does an act to deliver them. The details differ, but usually the same language to describe the trouble is reversed to describe the deliverance. They end up in the opposite situation than they were in.
4. Finally, there is a command for them to thank Yahweh. They thank him for His chesed—his mercy on his people, and for his power in doing things no one else can do. In the final stanza the delivered are told to praise God in the gathering of God’s people.
Four is a number of completeness, and so the four stories are supposed to give a cycle of deliverance of Yahweh. Ultimately, what is communicated is that this works for anyone, in any situation like these.
He turns rivers into a wilderness
And the springs of water into a thirsty ground.
A fruitful land into a salt waste
Because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
He turns the wilderness into a pool of water,
And parched land into springs of water.
There he settles the hungry
And they establish a city for dwelling.
They sow fields and plant vineyards
They gather a fruitful harvest.
He blesses them and they multiply greatly.
And their cattle he does not decrease.
When they are diminished and brought low
Because of oppression, trouble and sorrow
He pours contempt upon rulers
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.
He lifts high the needy from affliction
And makes their families numerous like flocks
The upright see it and rejoice
And all unrighteousness stops it's mouth.
Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things,
And they will consider the faithful mercy of Yahweh.
The final stanza is a general one about God’s actions. God punishes the wicked and those who oppress the poor, but the needy who cry out to Him, God takes their difficulties and burdens and turns them on their head. He provides for their needs, gives them a community to live in, protects them. Finally, there is a statement for how to meditate on this theology. The righteous, the psalmist says, should recognize this pattern and take joy in it. The wicked should just be quiet because they will be judged in this patter. But the wise should pay attention to this pattern, and act in accordance with God’s mercy on the needy.
The Most Powerful Element in the Universe-- Psalm 103
Bless Yahweh, O my soul
And all that is within me, bless His holy name
Bless Yahweh, O my soul
And forget none of His benefits
To bless God is to offer Him positive speech. We do this from our minds, but when the psalmist speaks of one’s “soul” he is not speaking just of the unseen part. Rather, the Hebrew word “soul” is usually used to speak of the whole self, including one’s body. So one is to give praise and honor to God, not just with one’s mind, but one’s whole being—mind, body, emotions and actions. But to do this, we must not forget who He is. It does us no good to speak good things about a God who does not exist, or to love a different god with the same name. So the rest of the psalm reminds us who God is, what He has done and why we give him praise.
He who forgives your iniquities
Who heals all your diseases
Who redeems your life from the pit
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion
Who satisfies your years with good things
So your youth is renewed like the eagle.
First of all, Yahweh is the god of redemption. This means that he delivers us from evil in our lives. The first evil he delivers us from is ourselves—our own wicked acts which we regret. As a display of this forgiveness, he takes away the judgment of sickness. Then, Yahweh delivers us from humiliation. Perhaps He does not take away the shame visited upon us by other humans, but if we serve Him truly, then He will honor us Himself with love and mercy. He will never forget us, or forget to honor us, as long as we honor Him with our whole selves. Lastly, even as we age, Yahweh delivers us from our bodies weaknesses. We may falter, but God within us is strong and gives us strength when we need it, gives us hope when we have failed.
Yahweh does righteous acts
And judgments supporting the oppressed.
He has made his ways known to Moses
His deeds to the sons of Israel
Yahweh is compassionate and gracious
Slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
He will not always fight with us
Nor will He keep his anger forever.
Then the psalmist reminds us of what Yahweh has done in the past. He reminds us of Yahweh’s actions supporting the poor. That when the whole world was against people, Yahweh supported them. He was the one who did not forget Joseph in jail when he was falsely accused. He was the one who heard Hagar in the wilderness when her son was dying of thirst. He was the one who delivered the children of Israel from slavery under the most powerful nation on earth. He was the one who saved his people from oppressive regimes and attacking armies. So He will help the poor today.
But the psalmist also reminds us that Yahweh is a teacher. He teaches history and morality and law. He informs Moses of what is right and true. And He reminds His people of what he has done through His word. But his most important teaching to Moses, the psalmist reminds us, is the teaching of his true nature. Yahweh spoke to Moses, as Moses was hidden behind a rock, informing Moses that He is a God of mercy and kindness of graciousness and faithfulness. Yahweh is not a precarious God, who says something one day and changes his mind the next. Rather, Yahweh keeps all of his good promises and always remembers his people in love.
Yes, his people sin, they fight against their god at times, they hate, steal, murder and oppress the poor. But as they repent, Yahweh always forgives. God has no desire to fight, to argue with his people, to offer terrible pronouncements. So as soon as His people are on the right track, He forgives and sets his anger aside. He is slow to anger and sets it aside quickly.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth
So great is his faithful love toward those who fear Him.
He knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are dust.
As for humans, their days are like grass
As a wildflower, so is human glory.
When the wind blows over it, it is gone
And its place is known no longer.
Yahweh knows full well that we are not made of the stuff of the spirit. We are weak, helpless against our hormones, pleasures, pains and desires. We are washed from thing to thing, desire to desire, as foam floating upon the ocean’s waves. And most of all, we are fearful. And that which we fear most is our frailty, our humiliation, our death. We do all we do to remain in perpetuity, to be remembered, to make a mark upon this world, upon which we remain for but the briefest moment.
But the faithful love of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him
And His righteousness to children's children.
To those who keep his covenant.
And remember his precepts to do them.
Yahweh’s love, is the opposite, however, to our mortal frame. We are but dust in the wind, but Yahweh’s love for us is stronger than the pyramids, it is a monument more lasting than the mountains. When the sea is dried up and the earth is cast into the sun, God’s love for us will remain. All that we do for ourselves will fade in a mere few years, perhaps a century. But God’s remembrance of what we have done for Him will never end. And if we live for Him, we will remain with that remembrance.
Yahweh has established His throne in the heavens
And his rule is over all.
Bless Yahweh, you his angels
Mighty in strength
Who perform His word
Obeying the voice of his word
Bless Yahweh all you his hosts
You who serve Him doing his will
Bless Yahweh, all you works of His
In all places of dominion
Bless Yahweh, O my soul
Yahweh is the king of the universe, and His love is the most powerful element in the universe. So if we have that love, through our faithfulness meeting His faithfulness, then we have that power within ourselves.
That power is so great, that we can command the gods. “Praise Yahweh” the psalmist commands the angels of heaven. Yes, the merest glance of one of them could break the psalmist in half—but he is confident in Yahweh’s love. So he commands them, “Honor your commander!” It is not enough, the psalmist says, to obey God, we must take time to honor Him as well. Obedience is wonderful, but we need to give respect to God’s name. We must give thanks for what He has done. We must recognize and laud his perfect character, his love.
And all that is within me, bless His holy name
Bless Yahweh, O my soul
And forget none of His benefits
To bless God is to offer Him positive speech. We do this from our minds, but when the psalmist speaks of one’s “soul” he is not speaking just of the unseen part. Rather, the Hebrew word “soul” is usually used to speak of the whole self, including one’s body. So one is to give praise and honor to God, not just with one’s mind, but one’s whole being—mind, body, emotions and actions. But to do this, we must not forget who He is. It does us no good to speak good things about a God who does not exist, or to love a different god with the same name. So the rest of the psalm reminds us who God is, what He has done and why we give him praise.
He who forgives your iniquities
Who heals all your diseases
Who redeems your life from the pit
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion
Who satisfies your years with good things
So your youth is renewed like the eagle.
First of all, Yahweh is the god of redemption. This means that he delivers us from evil in our lives. The first evil he delivers us from is ourselves—our own wicked acts which we regret. As a display of this forgiveness, he takes away the judgment of sickness. Then, Yahweh delivers us from humiliation. Perhaps He does not take away the shame visited upon us by other humans, but if we serve Him truly, then He will honor us Himself with love and mercy. He will never forget us, or forget to honor us, as long as we honor Him with our whole selves. Lastly, even as we age, Yahweh delivers us from our bodies weaknesses. We may falter, but God within us is strong and gives us strength when we need it, gives us hope when we have failed.
Yahweh does righteous acts
And judgments supporting the oppressed.
He has made his ways known to Moses
His deeds to the sons of Israel
Yahweh is compassionate and gracious
Slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
He will not always fight with us
Nor will He keep his anger forever.
Then the psalmist reminds us of what Yahweh has done in the past. He reminds us of Yahweh’s actions supporting the poor. That when the whole world was against people, Yahweh supported them. He was the one who did not forget Joseph in jail when he was falsely accused. He was the one who heard Hagar in the wilderness when her son was dying of thirst. He was the one who delivered the children of Israel from slavery under the most powerful nation on earth. He was the one who saved his people from oppressive regimes and attacking armies. So He will help the poor today.
But the psalmist also reminds us that Yahweh is a teacher. He teaches history and morality and law. He informs Moses of what is right and true. And He reminds His people of what he has done through His word. But his most important teaching to Moses, the psalmist reminds us, is the teaching of his true nature. Yahweh spoke to Moses, as Moses was hidden behind a rock, informing Moses that He is a God of mercy and kindness of graciousness and faithfulness. Yahweh is not a precarious God, who says something one day and changes his mind the next. Rather, Yahweh keeps all of his good promises and always remembers his people in love.
Yes, his people sin, they fight against their god at times, they hate, steal, murder and oppress the poor. But as they repent, Yahweh always forgives. God has no desire to fight, to argue with his people, to offer terrible pronouncements. So as soon as His people are on the right track, He forgives and sets his anger aside. He is slow to anger and sets it aside quickly.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth
So great is his faithful love toward those who fear Him.
He knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are dust.
As for humans, their days are like grass
As a wildflower, so is human glory.
When the wind blows over it, it is gone
And its place is known no longer.
Yahweh knows full well that we are not made of the stuff of the spirit. We are weak, helpless against our hormones, pleasures, pains and desires. We are washed from thing to thing, desire to desire, as foam floating upon the ocean’s waves. And most of all, we are fearful. And that which we fear most is our frailty, our humiliation, our death. We do all we do to remain in perpetuity, to be remembered, to make a mark upon this world, upon which we remain for but the briefest moment.
But the faithful love of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him
And His righteousness to children's children.
To those who keep his covenant.
And remember his precepts to do them.
Yahweh’s love, is the opposite, however, to our mortal frame. We are but dust in the wind, but Yahweh’s love for us is stronger than the pyramids, it is a monument more lasting than the mountains. When the sea is dried up and the earth is cast into the sun, God’s love for us will remain. All that we do for ourselves will fade in a mere few years, perhaps a century. But God’s remembrance of what we have done for Him will never end. And if we live for Him, we will remain with that remembrance.
Yahweh has established His throne in the heavens
And his rule is over all.
Bless Yahweh, you his angels
Mighty in strength
Who perform His word
Obeying the voice of his word
Bless Yahweh all you his hosts
You who serve Him doing his will
Bless Yahweh, all you works of His
In all places of dominion
Bless Yahweh, O my soul
Yahweh is the king of the universe, and His love is the most powerful element in the universe. So if we have that love, through our faithfulness meeting His faithfulness, then we have that power within ourselves.
That power is so great, that we can command the gods. “Praise Yahweh” the psalmist commands the angels of heaven. Yes, the merest glance of one of them could break the psalmist in half—but he is confident in Yahweh’s love. So he commands them, “Honor your commander!” It is not enough, the psalmist says, to obey God, we must take time to honor Him as well. Obedience is wonderful, but we need to give respect to God’s name. We must give thanks for what He has done. We must recognize and laud his perfect character, his love.
Infusion-- Psalm 90
A prayer of Moses, the man of God
The transcript of this psalm says that it was written by Moses. The Hebrew vocabulary of this psalm is very similar to that of the book of Deuteronomy, and has some of the themes of Deuteronomy as well. Thus, whoever edited the book of Deuteronomy is probably the author of this book, so it make sense that it is ascribed to Moses.
Yahweh, you have been our dwelling place in all generations
Before the mountains were born
And the earth and world writhed in pain
From eternity to eternity you are God
Yahweh is the most powerful, amazing God. In the pagan world at the time of the psalm, there were many gods, all of whom had their own powers, but Yahweh alone is the One who is most powerful from the beginning of time to the end. Other gods raise up in authority and then descend. Other gods obtain power and then lose it. But Yahweh alone is the god who is over all and does not falter or lose any of his authority. He is greater than all the earth, greater than all heavenly beings.
To dust you turn humanity,
Saying, "Return, O sons of men!"
Or as a watch in the night.
You sweep them away like a flood
For a thousand years in Your eyes
Are as yesterday's day when it is past
They sink into deep sleep
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
In the morning it flourishes and sprouts
Toward evening it withers and dries up.
So we vanish by Your wrath
Overcome in horror by your fury
You have arrayed our sins before You
Our secrets in the light of Your face.
All our days pass away in Your anger
We end our years like a sigh.
In comparison to humanity, God is most powerful. All humans, no matter who they are have limits and an end. But God does not. For Him, a thousand years is but a moment, because he has always existed and always will, beyond the scope of creation.
And God puts limits on humanity. God created humans, and He causes them to cease as well. The limitation of human life is done because of God’s wrath, as it says in Genesis 6:3. In that context, humanity was becoming more and more corrupt, more and more violent. So God limits their lives in order to limit their corruption. Even so, God’s wrath recognizes the harm that humanity does to one another, and so He limits our lives. This only displays humanity’s frailty before God. God is the powerful one, we are but leaves of grass, dependent on Him for our very lives.
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years
And if because of strength, eighty years.
Yet their pride is but toil and sorrow
They are quickly cut off and we fly away.
Who can comprehend the power of your wrath?
Give us the knowledge so to number our days
That we may acquire a heart of wisdom.
All humans can do is compare our lives with others to see if it was significant, or if it was long. Some have 70 years, some 80, depending on our strength. But in the end, our lives are limited, hard and short. We work hard all of our lives to get by, to raise our families and to make our mark and in the end all we have to show for it is our death.
So the psalmist prays for us and asks God to give us wisdom. Help us realize, the psalmist cries out, the shortness of our lives and to make the most of them. We only have so many days, and so we should take advantage of what we have. Not for selfish reasons, but to do things that are helping others. We need to have the wisdom to realize that we cannot procrastinate. If we want to accomplish something, we need to do it now.
Return, O Yahweh! How long?
Reconsider your worshippers.
Sate us in the morning with our faithful love
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us rejoice according to the days you have afflicted us.
And the years in which we have seen evil.
Let your deeds be shown to Your servants
And your splendor to their children.
May the delight of Yahweh our God be upon us
And fulfill the work of our hands
Yes, fulfill the work of our hands.
The work of humans is limited and often faithless. Our lives are brutish and short. But if we have God in our lives, then it can all be worth it. The problem with human life is that it is limited by human frailty. But if our lives are infused with divinity, then it can accomplish something much more. Our work can be worth something, if God gets involved. So the psalmist prays here that God take the pointlessness and frailty of our human efforts and to make it accomplish something great. Even if we only exist for a moment, God can take our work and make it eternal. Our work, our accomplishments, can be something amazing, if only God would sustain it and fulfill it beyond what we ourselves can do.
The transcript of this psalm says that it was written by Moses. The Hebrew vocabulary of this psalm is very similar to that of the book of Deuteronomy, and has some of the themes of Deuteronomy as well. Thus, whoever edited the book of Deuteronomy is probably the author of this book, so it make sense that it is ascribed to Moses.
Yahweh, you have been our dwelling place in all generations
Before the mountains were born
And the earth and world writhed in pain
From eternity to eternity you are God
Yahweh is the most powerful, amazing God. In the pagan world at the time of the psalm, there were many gods, all of whom had their own powers, but Yahweh alone is the One who is most powerful from the beginning of time to the end. Other gods raise up in authority and then descend. Other gods obtain power and then lose it. But Yahweh alone is the god who is over all and does not falter or lose any of his authority. He is greater than all the earth, greater than all heavenly beings.
To dust you turn humanity,
Saying, "Return, O sons of men!"
Or as a watch in the night.
You sweep them away like a flood
For a thousand years in Your eyes
Are as yesterday's day when it is past
They sink into deep sleep
In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.
In the morning it flourishes and sprouts
Toward evening it withers and dries up.
So we vanish by Your wrath
Overcome in horror by your fury
You have arrayed our sins before You
Our secrets in the light of Your face.
All our days pass away in Your anger
We end our years like a sigh.
In comparison to humanity, God is most powerful. All humans, no matter who they are have limits and an end. But God does not. For Him, a thousand years is but a moment, because he has always existed and always will, beyond the scope of creation.
And God puts limits on humanity. God created humans, and He causes them to cease as well. The limitation of human life is done because of God’s wrath, as it says in Genesis 6:3. In that context, humanity was becoming more and more corrupt, more and more violent. So God limits their lives in order to limit their corruption. Even so, God’s wrath recognizes the harm that humanity does to one another, and so He limits our lives. This only displays humanity’s frailty before God. God is the powerful one, we are but leaves of grass, dependent on Him for our very lives.
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years
And if because of strength, eighty years.
Yet their pride is but toil and sorrow
They are quickly cut off and we fly away.
Who can comprehend the power of your wrath?
Give us the knowledge so to number our days
That we may acquire a heart of wisdom.
All humans can do is compare our lives with others to see if it was significant, or if it was long. Some have 70 years, some 80, depending on our strength. But in the end, our lives are limited, hard and short. We work hard all of our lives to get by, to raise our families and to make our mark and in the end all we have to show for it is our death.
So the psalmist prays for us and asks God to give us wisdom. Help us realize, the psalmist cries out, the shortness of our lives and to make the most of them. We only have so many days, and so we should take advantage of what we have. Not for selfish reasons, but to do things that are helping others. We need to have the wisdom to realize that we cannot procrastinate. If we want to accomplish something, we need to do it now.
Return, O Yahweh! How long?
Reconsider your worshippers.
Sate us in the morning with our faithful love
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us rejoice according to the days you have afflicted us.
And the years in which we have seen evil.
Let your deeds be shown to Your servants
And your splendor to their children.
May the delight of Yahweh our God be upon us
And fulfill the work of our hands
Yes, fulfill the work of our hands.
The work of humans is limited and often faithless. Our lives are brutish and short. But if we have God in our lives, then it can all be worth it. The problem with human life is that it is limited by human frailty. But if our lives are infused with divinity, then it can accomplish something much more. Our work can be worth something, if God gets involved. So the psalmist prays here that God take the pointlessness and frailty of our human efforts and to make it accomplish something great. Even if we only exist for a moment, God can take our work and make it eternal. Our work, our accomplishments, can be something amazing, if only God would sustain it and fulfill it beyond what we ourselves can do.
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