Just curious...

Psalm 15 revisited...

Psalm 15

Click here to read Psalm 15 (ESV)

The life that is acceptable to YHWH

~ This psalm has a pretty straight-forward structure: Question, Answer, Promise

~ “An individual who “walks uprightly” makes God the focal point of life in both action and words and practices right living daily in her relationships with others (vv. 3–5). This psalm demands self-examination in preparation for worship.” (Woman's Study Bible)

~ (v. 1) Here's the question David is asking. It should be a question that all of us desire to have answered. It's all about having fellowship with YHWH. This is the whole point of the Bible when you think about it... In the first few chapters of the Bible, Mankind falls out of fellowship with God due to sin. The rest of the Bible is God drawing us back to Himself until His kingdom is established. How badly do you want to have fellowship with YHWH?

~ The editor of the Psalms, I think, purposefully placed this psalm after psalm 14. (Remember: the order of the Psalms as we know it, is not the order in which they were written) Psalm 14 talks about how there is no one at all who seeks God. Therefore, to follow the guidelines set forth in the following verses is impossible for us. (e.g. It is impossible for ANYONE to “walk uprightly”.) The point however, is to show that since we are not able to live out absolute righteousness, we cannot be with YHWH. God is holy, and nothing unholy can be in His presence. This is why we need the “salvation out of Zion” (Psalm 14:7), the promised Messiah.

~ (v. 1) “Observe to whom this inquiry is addressed—to God himself. Note, Those that would find the way to heaven must look up to God, must take direction from his word and beg direction from his Spirit”(Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume)

~ (v. 1) One may ask, how could David have known about the “holy hill” if the temple hadn't been build yet? “holy hill: ...this phrase is used of the presence of God in the temple or the tabernacle. The Hebrew term is a general one that refers to wherever the tabernacle was in David’s day; later readers and singers of this psalm appropriately applied the word to the temple built in Jerusalem.” (The Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)

~ Though not provable, “Most modern scholars take v. 1 literally, and suggest that the psalm functioned as an entrance liturgy for the Temple...” (The Jewish Study Bible: Tanakh Translation)

~ (v. 2-5b) This is the great answer to the question. (each of these verses has 3 parts, and is therefore called a “triplet”)

~ (v. 2) The first 2 statements are a general answer. They also present an extremely important concept to grasp: Since God is upright and righteous, we need to be as well in order to be with Him. Notice that honesty is part of this triplet. This must mean that God places a high value on truth. (something our post-modern culture doesn't quite do...)

~ (v.3) These are some basic guidelines on how to treat other people. Notice the progression of who we are not to do evil to: Everybody, neighbor, friend. Therefore, we are to be “others-oriented”

~ (v. 4) If someone is inherently evil, they are to be despised. This raises a question: Aren't we supposed to show love to all people? Yes, but as we find in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, there is no fellowship between light and dark. The flip side of this is that there is great fellowship between all who are of God. We should honor other believers as members of the family of Christ. The last part to this verse refers to keeping one's oath, even if it ends up being for his loss. The man who lacks integrity, and is only looking out for himself, will break his oaths if it appears he will be put to a disadvantage.

~ (v. 4) “The righteous hate what God hates (vv. 4, 5). The point is not so much the emotion of hatred as the deliberate rejection of wicked ways” (The Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)

~ (v. 4) “In our contemporary culture the opposite is often true; the vile person is honored, and the godly man is despised.” (Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee)

~ (v. 5) The first two statements here deal with some money-handling principles. Basically, don't be so enthralled with money that you're willing to hurt someone to get it.

~ (v. 5b) Here is the promise to us if we do the above things. There is a correlation between this promise and the original question. For living a righteous and upright life, we can have unshakable fellowship with God! As it is impossible for us sinful humans to live totally righteously, we need to beg YHWH for mercy and grace. Thankfully, He allowed His son Jesus, the Messiah Savior to shed his blood as a sacrifice for our sins.

~ As with the Law, the requirements for fellowship with God are: Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, and mind; Love your neighbor as yourself.

~ “Taken by itself, the Psalm seems to imply that salvation is somehow connected with a man’s righteous character or noble deeds. But taken with the rest of Scripture, it can only mean that the kind of faith that saves is the same kind of faith that results in a life of holiness.” (Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments )

~ “Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is not alone.” (John Calvin)

Psalm 14 revisited

Psalm 14

YHWH's deliverance is required to escape the naturally godless and foolish humanity

~This Psalm seems to be one that proposes great contrast between God's ultimate superiority, and our own inferiority and sinful nature (before trusting Jesus as master).

~ (v. 1-3) After defining what a “fool” does, we find that really we all fall under the category of “fool”. The reason is because there is a common word between the definition. That word is “corrupt”. We are all corrupt, and a fool is corrupt. Therefore, we are fools.

~ (v. 1) “'There is no God.' ... is an irrational position to take. First of all, it is a claim to omniscience; it says, 'I know everything. It is not possible that a God could exist beyond the boundaries of my knowledge.' Second, this attitude claims omnipresence; it says, 'I am present in all places at one and the same time, and it is not possible that God could exist any place in the universe without my knowing it.'” (Believer's Bible Commentary)

~ (v. 1) A “fool” is defined in this verse. They “lack spiritual discernment, not intelligence” (Woman's Study Bible)

~ (v. 1) “The Hebrew word for corrupt has the idea of soured milk. Those who cease to believe in God will eventually 'sour'; they will degenerate into doing evil.” (Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)

~ (v. 2) “The Lord looks down” “...is a way of describing the omniscience of God, the fact that the Lord knows everything.” (Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)

~ (v. 2) What's on YHWH's mind? To see if anyone would follow after Him. Think about it, the Almighty Creator of the universe, the great “I am”, the same God you read about in all the great accounts of the Bible...He DESIRES us humans to seek and understand Him.

~ (v. 3) “The biblical teaching on depravity is not that each individual is as evil as he or she could possibly be, but that sin is present in every individual.” (Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)

~ (v. 3) We have a dilemma. You may look at the previous verse and say to yourself, “Yeah! I'll pursue God...I'll study to understand Him intimately!” Then you come to this verse (and look back at the last statement in verse 1). You find out that NO ONE does good, and that we ALL have become corrupt.

~ (v. 4) Ok, here's an interesting verse. The gist of it is that evil people are attacking the psalmist's people, and not praying to YHWH. Going a bit deeper, we all have this corrupt nature, and cannot do good, but the psalmist (David) seems to separate himself from that crowd. “The workers of wickedness eat 'my' people”. He is obviously NOT a “worker of wickedness”. (or else he'd be eating his own people). That may have been a little confusing, but we find one key fact: It is possible to escape the curse of never being able to seek God. After all, David seemed to have found the answer...

~ (v. 5) If YHWH is on the side of those you were trying to defeat, you'd be afraid too! Another thing note is that it is possible to be “righteous”. There is a way to obey YHWH! But wait, I thought the psalm said that “no one had done good, not even one.” Hmm... we must be missing something.

~ (v. 6) Again, the evil person is trying to cause trouble in the “righteous generation's” lives. We find another characteristic of this righteous person. They are “afflicted”. In other words, there is always something out there that is against them. We also see that these righteous and afflicted people have YHWH as their refuge. At this point, we still don't know how to obtain all this.

~ (v. 7) Finally, we find out how to obtain this path of righteousness and seeking after God! To better apply this verse, look up Galatians 3. (Disclaimer: I am not in any way shape or form saying that we as the church have “replaced” Israel.[Romans 9-11]. However, we as Gentiles do reap some of the benefits that God promised through the Abrahamic Covenant [Gen 12:3 > Acts 11:18]) We find that “salvation...comes out of Zion” Who could this possible mean? JESUS!!! It is through Jesus that YHWH “restores his captive people” who at one time had no way to seek after Him. It is through the blood sacrifice of the Messiah that YHWH “restored” us from our depraved state. It is through the blood of Jesus that we can learn to “call upon the name of the LORD”, act righteously, and find “refuge” in Him. It is when Israel turns to her Redeemer that she will obtain her promised salvation.

~ This psalm seems to be very useful in teaching the Gospel. Also, to further explain the importance of seeking God and doing good through Jesus, use another psalm that explains God's wrath and punishment for NOT seeking after Him. (e.g. Psalm 7:6-16)

~ We should observe that some aspects of the Gospel as presented in the New Testament were not new ideas! Some of them were around a millennium before the New Testament was ever written!

Psalm 13 revisited...

Psalm 13

Click here to read Psalm 13 (ESV)

Trust YHWH no matter HOW LONG it is until He acts

~ (vv. 1-2) “How long...” is repeated four times (ESV). It is overly clear that David is questioning YHWH's timing. He doesn't do this with a malicious spirit, but one of a child innocently questioning his dad. He asks because he knows YHWH can do something great (in this case, deliverance from enemies)

~ (vv. 1-2) “'How long?' - This question is repeated no less than four times. It betokens very intense desire for deliverance, and great anguish of heart. And what if there be some impatience mingled therewith; is not this the more true a portrait of our own experience? It is not easy to prevent desire from degenerating into impatience. O for grace that, while we wait on God, we may be kept from indulging a murmuring spirit! 'How long?' Does not the oft-repeated cry become a very howling? And what if grief should find no other means of utterance? Even then, God is not far from the voice of our roaring; for he does not regard the music of our prayers, but his own Spirit's work in them in exciting desire and inflaming the affections...Thus the careful reader will remark that the question “how long?” is put in four shapes. The writer's grief is viewed, as it seems to be, as it is, as it affects himself within, and his foes without. We are all prone to play most on the worst string. We set up monumental stones over the graves of our joys, but who thinks of erecting monuments of praise for mercies received?” (The Treasury of David)

~ (v. 1) “'How long wilt thou forget me?' Ah, David! how like a fool thou talkest! Can God forget? Can Omniscience fail in memory? Above all, can Jehovah's heart forget his own beloved child? Ah I brethren, let us drive away the thought, and hear the voice of our covenant God by the mouth of the prophet, 'But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.' 'For ever?' Oh, dark thought! It was surely bad enough to suspect a temporary forgetfulness, but shall we ask the ungracious question, and imagine that the Lord will for ever cast away his people? No, his anger may endure for a night, but his love shall abide eternally. 'How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?' This is a far more rational question, for God may hide his face, and yet he may remember still. A hidden face is no sign of a forgetful heart. It is in love that his face is turned away; yet to a real child of God, this hiding of his Father's face is terrible, and he will never be at ease until once more he hath his Father's smile.” (The Treasury of David)

~ (v. 2) Since he cannot seem to get help from YHWH, David looks to himself for help. However, he realizes that this only leads to sorrow. He absolutely needs YHWH's advice! How often we mimic David in this sense! We practically believe that God won't do anything, so we take matters into our own hands. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

~ (vv. 3-4) Only through YHWH “lighting up our eyes” can we have victory. Without Him, we will be overcome by enemies, be “shaken”, and die.. Since the psalmist probably realizes this, the only natural follow-up in an expression of faith as seen in v. 5-6. You will ultimately fail without God!

~ (v. 3) “As a person who is nearing death might sense the dimming of his vision (38:10), David also senses his death and pleads with God to intervene before he dies.” (Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)

~ (v. 4) “David will prevail against his enemy from his knees. The prayer of David asks for nothing but that the honor of God be identified with the deliverance of His servant.” (KJV Bible Commentary)

~ (vv. 5-6) There are four statements here. The first is present perfect tense, the second is future, the third is future, and the fourth is present perfect. (Poetic form) He is saying that in the past, as well as currently, he trusts God, and that God is “dealing bountifully” with him. In essence, he is recognizing all that YHWH has done for him, and how He has cared for him, and is offering praise to Him for it. David is also confident that due to YHWH's “steadfast love” (Hebrew: “chesed”= covenant, or faithful love and mercy), he can count on being delivered in the future. As Christians, we can count on the loving and merciful heart of our Father to carry us through life, and into eternity to be with Him.

~ (v. 5) “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge lovingkindness out of all the roughest strokes of God.”

-Samuel Rutherford

~ (v. 6) “Based on the assurance that God will deliver him, David resolves to tell the people about it—this is the essence of praise.” (Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)

~ (v. 6) This Psalm is like many of our God-sent testings: they begin with a sigh but end with a song!” (Believer's Bible Commentary)

~ Lesson: If you ever question God's timing, take some time to reflect on how God has (in the past AND currently) “dealing bountifully” with you. REMEMBER TO PRAISE GOD WHEN HE ANSWERS YOU (even if it's not the answer you wanted/expected!)

Psalm 12 revisited...

Psalm 12

Click here to read Psalm 12 (ESV)

By YHWH's word, the godly minority will be delivered from the words of the godless majority

~ A psalm of David, comparing words. We see two parties represented by what they say, and their respective effect on a third pray. Words of the evil man are “flattering”, and used for self-gain, as well as to demonstrate the pride that lies within. The middle section (v. 5) seems to be the result of the words of evil men. The third party, the “godly” and “faithful” people, are oppressed. The words of YHWH on the other hand are pure and solid. The result of God's word is preservation of His own from the evil man's words.

~ (v. 1) The first word “save” (or “help” depending on the translation) shows that this psalm is one of desperation. Also, the fact that the author goes to an extreme generality, (No upstanding people left on earth) shows that this psalm is deep in his heart and relationship with YHWH.

~ (v. 2) To David, it seemed that everyone was lying and had ulterior motives for saying anything that may have passed for good. It would seem that every generation since the fall of man had dishonesty as a major problem. Why? It is a relatively easy way to advance one's agenda. It is immediate gratification with long-term consequences.

~ (v. 2) Evil words lie, flatter, and ultimately have a hidden agenda. “Flattery is but treachery in disguise” (KJV Bible Commentary)

~ (vv. 3-5) What made David conclude that godliness was on the decline? The way people spoke. David heard flattering words, proud words, and oppressive words, and he knew that God was displeased. In our 'age of communication,' are you able to discern what is true and right? When you speak, is it communication or manipulation?” (With the Word Bible Commentary; Bold text added)

~ (v. 3) The Psalmist, David, expresses faith in YHWH to administer justice.

~ (v. 4) Disregard for YHWH is shown here, through one's words. People think their words are so powerful, even more powerful than YHWH.

~ (v. 5) YHWH is quoted here as a helper to those who have been negatively affected by evil words. Also, as seen in some previous psalms, YHWH is said to “arise”, which is an anthropomorphism (attributing human actions/characteristics to YHWH) that means He will prepare Himself as for battle to deliver His oppressed children.

~ (vv. 6-7) YHWH's word contrasted to the brashness of the evil man's.

~ (v. 6) “refined seven times” = “seven” represented fullness, or completeness in Jewish culture. This perfect purity is a contrast to the words of the evil man, which are impure and corrupt. Not only that, but their words are devoid of the power they think is in them.

~ (v. 7) It seems to be a bit of an oxymoron to say “...from this generation forever.” (italics added) On the surface, it would seem that the specific generation of evil people in David's time is the generation in question, and that for all time (presumably into the grave) YHWH will save David and his godly contemporaries from them. While this could be true, it could also be said that there will always be the godless, oppressive group of people, and the godly, victimized group of people, and that YHWH will always be there to administer justice, either in this life or the next.

~ (v. 8) The psalmist again recognizes that the godless men are in the majority, and logically following, so is their vileness. Only YHWH would be able to help. Does it ever feel like immoral and vile people are all around? Do not be discouraged; God is with His children and will protect them according to His will, until it is time for them to come to Heaven.

~ “In the lament psalms, we hear the strong, emotional words of sufferers. These are words written by real people in very difficult situations. Sometimes the forcefulness of the psalmists’ complaints against God is shocking. But these godly sufferers know that God will not be angry with their honesty, for even when they scream at God, it is a scream of faith. The following is the basic structure of the psalms of lament:

1. An introductory cry
2. The lament proper
I am hurting
You do not care
The enemy is winning
3. A confession of trust
4. Reasons for God to act
5. Petitions
Hear me
Save me
Punish them
6. A vow to praise God”

(Nelson Study Bible: NKJV)