Monthly Archives: August 2012

Aug
29
2012

Salvation is God’s forte (Psalm 3)

Filed under by

I am continuing with Dale Ralph Davis’s book on the first twelve psalms, The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life. Psalm 3 is the first psalm with an attribution – “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.” Starting in 2 Samuel 15, David’s trouble with Absalom reaches a climax.

David confesses to God that his enemies are many. His own son is against him. His valued counselor, Ahithophel, joins with Absalom (2 Samuel 15:31). His enemies grate on David, implying that God will not help, that he will not save. How does David react? He runs to that same God, cries to him in his anguish.

David fills his vision with God, meeting his enemies’ talk with the truth about God. God protects like a shield, both physically and spiritually. David claims God as his “glory”, a term denoting the ideas of weightiness, substance, and wealth. His kingdom is in jeopardy, yet David finds all he needs in the Lord himself. David left with his head covered (2 Samuel 15:30), but he was confident in God’s restoring grace. Lifting of the head hearkened back to the blessing on Israel (Numbers 6:24-26). Even as David left Jerusalem, he knew the Lord was accessible, answering from his “holy hill” (Psalm 3:4).

David enjoyed peace because of who God is. He felt immediate peace (“I lay down and slept”) and long-term peace (“I will not be afraid …”). The peace controls how he looked at the future. It is a peace that Paul commended to the Philippians – a supernatural peace from God (Philippians 4:6-7). David’s peace does not come because the turmoil around him ends; it comes because he rests in God’s peace … and then sleeps (Psalm 127:2).

David prayed for deliverance, for God’s work to be done on his enemies (Psalm 3:7). We are reminded that physical and spiritual salvation can be a nasty piece of work (Revelation 6:9-10). It is altogether God’s work though; we pray for God’s servants to be vindicated by God himself … but in his time. Salvation is God’s forte, his work and his decision, not David’s enemies.

Where does this leave us? We can identify with David; he acts as a representative of God’s people. As David came to the Lord in trouble, we do as well. As David faced enemies, we do too: our sin, our world, and our enemy, Satan. We too need to run to the Lord, as David did, even as our enemies whisper that God wants nothing to do with us.

Aug
22
2012

Where is history going? (Psalm 2)

Filed under by

Progressing from Psalm 1 to Psalm 2 expands from the individual person to the nations as a whole. Originally, this psalm was likely used in coronation ceremonies. The Davidic king was the Lord’s “anointed”. Yet, Psalm 2 points beyond a human king to the ultimate Son of David, Jesus Christ. He will be our focus.

The world, represented by the kings and rulers, is hostile to the Lord and his Anointed (“messiah”). We see in Acts 4:23-31 that this hostility spills onto the Lord’s people. Dale Ralph Davis asks, “What are we to make of this?” We understand that a proper worldview starts with this understanding: the world hates God, detests his Messiah, and despises his people.

But is there any consolation for the Lord’s people? Yes, God is unimpressed by this world-wide rebellion – he laughs at them all! Our consolation is grounded is this truth: God’s kingdom cannot be destroyed. God has installed his own king on Zion to rule over the nations. It may start visibly small, but will grow until it fills the earth.

God’s decree determines who will rule. The nations and rules have plotted, but God has decided and acted. God has appointed the king, with world-wide sway, who will be established in overwhelming force. The view of where everything is headed will act as glue for God’s people.

God offers the rebellious mercy if they come and make peace. They can avoid danger and experience joy, but it requires total submission to the Son. God is in the business of saving rebels. God is in control, which comforts us during persecution and urges us to share God’s mercy – which we rebels have already received.

 

Aug
19
2012

The Believer’s Life (Psalm 1)

Filed under by

Dale Ralph Davis, in his book The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life, says that this psalm tackles matters of supreme importance right at the start. Two ways, two destinies — essentially two humanities — are laid out before us. This psalm captures the direction, the description, and the destiny of the believer’s life.

In an earlier post, I wrote about the direction of a believer’s life. In Psalm 1:1-2, that direction is largely captured by what the righteous man or woman does not do. Yet there is also an aspect of what the righteous do: he takes signals for living from the law of God (the “torah“). The believer is preoccupied with the Word of God, working it into her very being.

The blessings that describe the believer’s life flow from living out of the Word of God. Psalm 1:3-4 describes the believer’s life as a life filled with stability (“planted”), marked by vitality (“by streams of water”), given to productivity (“yields its fruit”), established in durability (“does not wither”), and grown in prosperity (“prospers”). But we must not over-read what the Psalmist is saying. This psalm shares many qualities with wisdom literature. It uses stark contrasts at a summary level, with broad brush strokes but few qualifiers. Later psalms (such as Psalm 3 and 4) should disabuse of the notion that all is always well for the Christian.

The psalm culminates with two destinies; it is a very serious and solemn ending. The wicked have no justification, no communion with the righteous, and no hope. “The way of the wicked will perish.” Yet the destiny of the righteous is different. The Lord continually knows the way of the righteous. The God who cares for every step the righteous takes will also care when he steps into judgment.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

Aug
16
2012

Read the Psalms on your knees

Filed under by

For any Christian for whom prayer is becoming formal and stereotyped, the Psalms provide a rich source of inspiration. It is true that to read the Psalms on your knees, as it were, can be a great boost to one’s prayer experience. The book of Psalms provides the most sustained and concentrated biblical expressions of prayer. There are two qualifications I would make to this recommendation to resort directly to the Psalms for prayer.

You can read the two qualifications he makes about praying the Psalms at the link below. Great insight into the significance of the Psalms for prayer.

via Read the Psalms on your knees | The Briefing.

Aug
14
2012

Peace to Sleep

Filed under by

Over two Psalms, David remarks on his ability to sleep well and in peace. The Lord sustains David as he flees from his son Absalom (Psalm 3:5), and the Lord protects David as he sleeps (Psalm 4:8). What has struck me about each of these verses is the active work on the Lord on David’s behalf and indeed on every Christian’s behalf. The Lord lifts David up and protects him, physically and spiritually. The Lord carefully watches over us. He is for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

 

Aug
13
2012

I Can’t Sit Down

Filed under by

 

Aug
07
2012

Meditating on the Law

Filed under by

In Psalm 1, the psalmist tells us to meditate on the “law” (the torah) day and night. Dale Ralph Davis likens that message to chewing on a text. There is a breadth to the Bible that must be explored — the themes, the focus (Jesus), the story from beginning to end. Yet there is also a depth to each passage that must be pursued. You must go over passages again and again, thinking about the context, the argument (if one), what is revealed about God, and what is revealed about men and women.

I have found the discipline of memorizing passages of Scripture to be the way that works best for me to “chew” on a passage. The daily act of repeating a set of verses allows new images and insights to come to mind. It causes me to see different ways the verses apply to me.

A verse that has held my attention of late is Psalm 5:8:

Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

 At first, I concentrated on the odd way in which David asks for leading — “because of my enemies”. What did David mean? Why would he want leading because of them? David’s enemies were many at times (Psalm 3:1-2), and the path of righteousness can be marked by those who are trying to pull you away from the Lord. David asked for the Lord’s leading at a time when his enemies were strong. The next line “make your way straight” shows David wanting the Lord to lay out the right way clearly in front of him. A “straight way” was the way of the Lord, a way not marked by the counsel of the wicked (Psalm 1:1).

Over the last few weeks, I have prayed that same prayer. My own enemies are just as powerful as David’s. Satan is still lurking about seeking to destroy. My own sin nature fights with the spirit. Death is waiting for me, although its sting is gone. I too need the Lord to make my way straight before me, to keep my eye fixed on the light (Matthew 6:22-23). This psalm has become my psalm.