Meditations on the Psalms

The worshipper gives thanks: I will sing of mercy and justice; to You, O LORD, I will sing praises(verse 1). David sang to the Lord who is just and merciful every day, as Ethan the Ezrahite did, Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face(Psalms 89:14). David recalled how much strife and troubles he suffered from, and how he experienced the divine providence that assisted him and rescued him from every adversity. He then realized that every ruler must exercise mercy and justice in his judgments. In mercy the throne will be established; and One (ruler) will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness(Isaiah 16:5). He realized that every believer who wants to walk in a perfect way must overflow with praise to the good God, who is abundant in mercy and great in forgiveness. He must also thank Him for his equity that is manifest in His judgments and behave in a way that is in keeping with his faith, treating others with mercy and justice. He (the Lord) has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?(Micah 6:8).

So let us participate with David in thanking the Lord and singing of His justice and mercy. There is success and failure in our lives, as well as the fulfillment of dreams and disappointments. Our lives have both the sweet and the bitter, days of health and days of illness, days of gain and days of loss. Let us, then, thank the Lord for the mercies He showers upon us in the midst of all this and say with David, I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech. Show Your marvellous loving kindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings(Psalms 17:6-8). Let us praise God and thank Him for His just judgments toward us, whether by rewarding or chastising us, for the apostle Paul says, You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: `My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives'(Hebrews 12:4-6).

The worshipper strives for perfection (verse 2):

The worshipper hates evil (verses 3,4):In these two verses David announces his perfect loyalty to God and that he will strive to lead a life of obedience, departing from all evil and loathing it.

The just king rejects the one who secretly slanders: Whoever secretly slanders his neighbour, him I will destroy(verse 5a). A slanderer is somebody who tells lies about others, and hurts people by what he says about them behind their backs, giving them no chance to defend their name. A king must have assistants and counselors to give him reports about the coun-try and the people. They should be honest and truthful, never slan-dering or wronging anyone, but give the king a true representation of the people and the state of affairs. If those around the king are honest, their reports will be honest, too; hence the king's decisions will be just. But if those around the king are wicked, they will submit false reports, which will lead to unjust and wrong decisions. For this reason King David did not permit anyone to slander others se-cretly; he rather removed them from his retinue, for If a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked(Proverbs 29:12).

The just king rejects the haughty: The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure(verse 5b). David said to the Lord, For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks(Psalms 18:27). David had followed the example of his God; he did not endure haughty people like Haman. When King Ahasuerus asked Haman, What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honour?he thought in his heart, `Whom would the king delight to honour more than me?' He suggested that the king should clothe him with the royal robe, let him ride on the king's mare, give him the king's crown to wear, then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: `Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honour!'So the king ordered this to be done to Mordecai, the gatekeeper of the palace (Esther 6:6-11). Truely, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart; these, O God, You will not despise(Psalms 51:17). So Be clothed with humility, for `God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time(1 Peter 5:5,6).

The just king uses a perfect and faithful man: My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me(verse 6). David was faithful, walked wisely and in a perfect way. Therefore he loved those who are faithful and perfect. He continually looked for them to be paras of his entourage, counsellors, confidantes, co-workers and servants.

The just king drives out the liars: He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence(verse 7). David suffered greatly from the lying deceivers who sold him out to King Saul, who chased him and sought to kill him. When Saul was caught one time by David, David said to him, Why do you listen to the words of men who say, `Indeed David seeks your harm'?(1 Samuel 24:9). And when God made David king, he did not want anyone to suffer the way he suffered, so he drove the deceivers out of his house. It was David also who said, Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous(Psalms 31:18). He who endeavors to walk in a perfect way cannot live in harmony with a deceiver, but rather says, As for the saints who are on the earth, 'They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight' (Psalms 16:3).

The just king cleanses the capital of his kingdom: Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD(verse 8). David did not settle for just cleansing his palace from the wicked deceivers, but planned to cleanse his entire capital from them every day, For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil(Romans 13:4). David called the capital of his kingdom the City of God,therefore he planned to cleanse it from the workers of evil, in order to be the ideal city, a utopia. He planned that earlyevery morning he would drive away from it the wicked and the unjust, who do wrong to others. The Lord said, O house of David! Thus says the LORD: `Execute judgment in the morning; and deliver him who is plundered out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go forth like fire and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings'(Jeremiah 21:12).

So let us ask the Lord to bring us closer to Him, because if we walk close to Him we will be faithful in our work, house and ministry. We will deserve to hear the Lord say to us, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things (your personal and family life, with your spouse and children), I will make you ruler over many things (a bigger and better work in ministry and society)(Matthew 25:23). Let us walk before the Lord perfectly and uprightly, because we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, so that our light may so shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16).

Why did God say that David is a man after His own heart?

What did David mean when he said that he will behave in a perfect way?

A crying complaint: Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; incline Your ear to me; in the day that I call, answer me speedily(verses 1,2). The afflicted man who grew faint cries and pours out his complaint to the Deliverer who is able to save those who are tempted, who shows pity and compassion on the mi-serable. He upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down; He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds; He comforts all who mourn. The psalmist requests the Lord to hear his prayer, for He said, It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear(Isaiah 65:24). He is sore afraid that the Lord will hide the light of his brilliant face from him in the time of his trouble, causing the world to grow dark in his sight. He fears that the Lord will neglect his request, put off the answer or grow weary of his complaints, so he requests that his cry be allowed to come into God's presence, so that He might in-cline His ears and rush to his aid like a mother who bows down to wipe away the tears of her weeping child. If men hear the crying of their children shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? ...He will avenge them speedily(Luke 18:7,8). Even if He does not give the believer what he asked for, He will still give him grace and strength to help him achieve victory, saying to him all the while, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness(2 Corinthians 12:9).

The reasons for the complaint (verses 3-11):

His hope is in the Lord: But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your name to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favour her, yes, the set time, has come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and show favour to her dust(verses 12-14). In all probability these verses were written during the captivity. After the psalmist had lifted up his complaint to the Lord, he directed his face to the heavens, for himself and on behalf of his people. There he saw God, who reigns from eternity to eternity, who said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: `The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations'(Exodus 3:15). He is the same God of whom Jeremiah said, You, O LORD, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation(Lamentations 5:19). He must show mercy to Zion according to His sure promises, as Isaiah confirmed, Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins(Isaiah 40:2). The time of favour has come as the Lord said to Habakkuk, For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry(Habakkuk 2:3). The psalmist emphasizes that the Lord surely feels for His people who love the stones of the city of God, which was razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar, and still yearn for the dust on its streets. Sanballat commented mockingly, Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish; stones that are burned?(Nehemiah 4:2). But the Lord rose up to show mercy and nullified the mockery of Sanballat and those who took his side. For He says: `In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation(2 Corinthians 6:2). So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away... The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed, that he should not die in the pit, and that his bread should not fail(Isaiah 51:11,14).

His hope is in a coming generation that will comprehend (verses 15-18):When the psalmist lifted his eyes up to heaven he rejoiced and his soul was filled with hope that a new generation, which knows the Lord, is coming.

He has hope in divine deliverance (verses 19-22):

A difference between man and God: He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days. I said, `O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations'(verses 23,24). Owing to sickness the afflicted man who grew faint saw his body aging prematurely. But he shifted his gaze away from his own weakness and brevity of days to meditate on the One with endless years. He realized that the Lord made man weak so that He would realise that the Lord is strong, so that the created man would repara his Creator and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; He flees like a shadow and does not continue(Job 14:1,2). But the eternal God gives mortal man eternal life: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life(John 3:14-16). How lovely for man to call the Lord my God. It is this personal relationship that gives man sanctification and life eternal.

A difference between God and nature: Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You(verses 25-28). When the afflicted man compared his age with that of heaven and earth, he found that his life is short and transient. As he looked up and compared God with nature, which He created, the man found that nature had a beginning and an end. But, God is eternal, already there even before the world He Himself created came into existence, and He will also remain after the form of this world passes away. The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up(2 Peter 3:10). Nature changes in obedience to the Lord's commands, who directs the winds and brings down rain to fill the seas, who shakes the earth, causes volcanoes to burst forth and change the face of the earth. They all change, but He remains the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Paul quoted those words when he was speaking of Christ, God's eternal Word (Hebrews 1:10-12).

Why did St. Augustine hang this psalm on his wall?

Mention the two differences the psalmist with which ended his psalm.

He blesses and thanks Him because He is the Lord:He is the Lord of creation, the supreme Ruler of both heaven and earth, who owns every beast of the forest, and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalms 50:10). As a son feels gratitude for his father who is the lord of the house,so does David expresses his gratitude to God who is GOD the Lord.

He blesses and thanks Him because He is the holy One:The angels shout to him, Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!(Isaiah 6:3), and in the vision John saw all creation shouting to Him: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!(Revelation 4:8). All His works are pure, and every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning(James 1:17). God is light and in Him is no darkness at all(1 John 1:5).

He blesses and thanks Him because He is the benefactor:His benefits are free gifts to the undeserving man-kind. He acts benevolently because He is gracious by nature who gives to all liberally and without reproach(James 1:5). As a result of His generous benefits we say, The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want,past, present and future. But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me(Psalms 13:5,6).

The blessing of forgiveness: Who forgives all your iniquities(verse 3a). The enumeration of five blessings begins with thanking God who forgives all the sins of the repentant sinner. Through forgiveness God begins to be pleased with him and starts His good work in him. Man cannot enjoy the rest of God's gifts unless he is sure that God accepted and forgave him.

The blessing of healing: Who heals all your diseases(verse 3b). Our heavenly King is the only One who forgives all your iniquitiesand heals all your diseases.One may fall ill because of his guilt, and God heals his spirit by forgiveness, then heals his body. Christ said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you,and quickly added, I say to you, arise, take up your bed and go to your house(Mark 2:5,11). Christ said to the sick man of Bethesda after healing him, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you(John 5:14).

One may also fall ill because of a broken heart and of grief, as it is said, Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression(Proverbs 12:25). But when someone starts a pure, personal relationship with God, he will run to Him with a son's frankness, and pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name(Matthew 6:9). He will pray for comfort for his sorrow, so that the divine promise is fulfilled to him: As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you(Isaiah 66:13). Through this sweet, personal relationship with God the sick is healed from his sickness, which was brought about by the brokenness of his soul. Therefore he will say, Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God(Psalms 42:11). And he will hear, But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves(Malachi 4:2).

There are also physical diseases that the Lord heals through medi-cines or miracles, or through grace, which enables the sick person to bear the torments of his disease. Complete healing, however, will be achieved when the believer is taken up to heavenly glory.

(3) He gives grace to the sick person to bear his sickness:The greatest example of such a situation is Paul's condition. Paul said, A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me(2 Corinthians 12:7). We do not know exactly what that thorn was, but it could have been an eye disease (Galatians 4:13-15). Paul prayed three times asking for healing, but did not get it because the Lord said to him, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.No sooner had he heard this than he responded, Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me(2 Corinthians 12:9).

(4) God will give complete healing in heaven:Every believer realizes that he has a life without end, which started the day he opened his heart to the Lord. Therefore the believer does not consider death as the end of his life, but a passage to a better life. He says, For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain... having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better(Philippians 1:21,23). There God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new'(Revelation 21:4,5). This is the perfect health and complete healing which the Lord wants to give to the believer.

The blessing of redemption: Who redeems your life from destruction(verse 4a). The Hebrew word shachat can mean both holeand destruction. In this verse holewould indicate the grave, i.e. physical death, and destructionwould be the eternal destiny of the lost. When God blesses someone by forgiving his sins, He also redeems him from hellfire. When God blesses someone by healing his sickness, He also redeems his life from destruction. Elihu, Job's friend, mentioned these two blessings as he said, In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man (i.e. to help him repent and change his direction, as well as remove pride from him in order to confess his sins to the Lord), He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword(Job 33:17,18). King Hezekiah received the two blessings, so he sang to the Lord this song of thanksgiving: O LORD, by these things men live; and in all these things is the life of my spirit; so You will restore me and make me live. Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back(Isaiah 38:16,17).

The blessing of loving kindness and tender mercies: Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies(verse 4b). In the first three blessings we saw God blessing us with the basics; i.e. forgiveness, healing and redemption. But in the fourth and fifth blessings we see Him granting extra benefits: crowning the head with loving kindness and tender mercies and satisfying one's mouth with good things, so that one's youth is renewed. The psalmist says to the Lord that He crowns His children with loving kindness and tender mercies, considering them princes and princesses. They are the sons and daughters of the heavenly King.

The blessing of satisfaction and renewal: Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's(verse 5).

His mercy is impartial: The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed(verse 6). One of the Lord's mercies for the believers is that He always avenges them on their enemies, as he avenged David on King Saul. David said to the king, `Therefore let the LORD be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.' The king answered, `May the LORD reward you with good... And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand'(1 Samuel 24:15,19,20).

It may seem to us that injustice has won the victory, but this victory cannot continue, because The LORD executes righteousness and justicetoday, in our land, for all the oppressed. For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn him(Psalms 109:31). He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people(Isaiah 2:4). Therefore they will say, The LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us(Isaiah 33:22). When Christ stood before Pilate, this governor said proudly, Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?Christ answered Him with all the truth that releases the soul from fear, You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin(John 19:10,11). Christ's life ended with His crucifixion on Friday, but he rose again, conquered death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Everyone who is united with Christ like a branch in a vine will receive eternal life and blessing.

His mercy is revealed: He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel(verse 7). God answered Moses' prayer: If I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight(Exodus 33:13). So the Lord made known to him the ways He deals with His people, and said to him, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth(Exodus 34:6). Another of God's mercies for us is to reveal Himself to us, because we are unable to know Him by ourselves with our limited intellect. The Egyptian mystic Dhul-Nun (d. 859 AD) said, I knew God through my God, and but for my God I would not have known God.You may get to know some information about a person by observing his behaviour or reading about him but you will never know him personally unless you come closer to him, talk with him, and share life with him. The apostle Paul said, That I may gain Christ and be found in Him... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me(Philippians 3:8-12). It is true that we know of God by observing His great, highly organized creation, but we will never know Him personally unless He makes Himself known to us.

As to the perfect knowledge of God, it has been fulfilled in Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). God spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, at various times and in various ways, but He has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, who is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. In Him we received the full revelation which the prophets have long foretold, for He is `Immanuel,' which is translated, `God with us.' ...God was manifested in the flesh... the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth... No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him(Hebrews 1:1-3; Matthew 1:23; 1 Timothy 3:16; John 1:14,18).

His mercy is forgiving: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities(verses 8-10). Nehemiah said to Him, But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness(Nehemiah 9:17). Therefore the prophet Joel called his people to Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness(Joel 2:13). In His mercy He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance(2 Peter 3:9). He said, `As I live,' says the Lord GOD, `I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'(Ezekiel 33:11). If He punishes for something wrong, His punishment will be a Father's punishment, full of concern for the safety of His son. He says, For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry(Isaiah 57:16). `For I am merciful,' says the LORD; `I will not remain angry forever'(Jeremiah 3:12). Therefore the psalmist said, If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared(Psalms 130:3,4).

There are parents that pardon their children when they apologize for their mistakes, but when the child makes another mistake the father rebukes him for both, the old and the new. Some spouses do the same when they mix the new subject of contention with an old one. But the merciful God will not judge forever; He forgives and forgets. Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy(Micah 7:18). He does not deal with us according to our sins; rather If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself(2 Timothy 2:13). There is assurance in divine forgiveness; as we confess to Him, He forgives our sins and reparas them no more. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world(1 John 2:1,2).

His mercy is limitless: For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us(verses 11,12). Those who fear Him are not those who are terrified by His might, but those who act on His commandments and submit to His authority with love, because He God our Saviour, who alone is wise, and His is glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever (Jude 25). Those who fear God say together with the psalmist, For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds(Psalms 57:10). King Hezekiah said, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back(Isaiah 38:17). He forgives our sins, completely drives them away from Him, according to His limitless mercy, saying, I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not repara your sins... I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you(Isaiah 43:25; 44:22). Therefore we say, He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea(Micah 7:19). Christ covered those sins with His precious blood, and as long as the Lord has forgiven us, we must forgive ourselves and others, too.

Man's weakness: As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He reparas that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place reparas it no more(verses 13-16). Human fathers love their children and pity them, although they themselves are sinful people. But God's relationship to the believers is a relationship of an ideal, perfect fatherhood; He knows their weaknesses, has compassion for them and knows their exact nature. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!(Matthew 7:11). God says, Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you(Isaiah 49:15). Christ taught us to begin our prayers with the statement: Our Father in heaven(Matthew 6:9). He depicted the heavenly Father as welcoming the lost son on his return with these words: And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him(Luke 15:20). Therefore David said, When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me(Psalms 27:10).

This compassionate God pities us because He knows our form. He knows the frailty of our humanity in face of the onslaughts of evil. He knows our sinful nature. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin(Hebrews 4:15). He reparas that we are dust, for The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being(Genesis 2:7). Job said, Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue(Job 14:1,2). The psalmist said, For He reparaed that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again(Psalm 78:39). He prayed, Repara how short my time is; for what futility have You created all the children of men?(Psalm 89:47). It is true that All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass(Isaiah 40:6,7). Moses said, You carry them away like a flood; they are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: in the morning it flourishes and grows up; in the evening it is cut down and withers(Psalm 90:5,6). We are made of dust, and to dust we shall return. It is God's breath within us, the divine element in mortal man, that keeps us alive and makes us look up to the Creator. But we are still made of dust, the earthly element in us, which brings us down. Man is torn between the two, and finds himself saying, To will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find... O wretched man that I am!... With the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin(Romans 7:18,24,25). But we thank God because the grace of God, through the power of Holy Spirit, enables the believer to say, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death(Romans 8:2).

Man often thinks that he is great, especially when he prospers, becomes rich or has influence. He thinks that his authority is per-manent. But he is like grass. If he is not established in the Lord, and if he is not grounded in Christ, all the balances in his life will be overturned; he will be scattered by the wind. He comes to an a-brupt end and none will know where he was, as Zophar the Naamathite described mortal man when he said to Job, The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place behold him anymore(Job 20:9).

God's mercy: But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who repara His commandments to do them(verses 17,18).

The reason for thanksgiving: The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all(verse 19). God's throne is established in heaven, where there is light, glory and magnificence unchangeable. He is King. He holds absolute authority in heaven and earth. The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes(Proverbs 21:1). Joseph's brothers thought that they had got rid of him when they threw him into the cistern and sold him into slavery, but the Lord raised him to be in charge of Egypt's treasuries (Genesis 45:25-28). In the same way the elders of the Jews thought that they had got rid of Jesus when they crucified, killed and buried Him in a tomb. But this was only what their darkened mind imagined, for God raised him on the third day (Acts 2:24). King Herod put Peter in jail, preparatory to putting him to death, but the Lord delivered him to proclaim the good news of Christ's salvation (Acts 12:11).

Those called to give thanks:

Write down the five things for which the psalmist praised the Lord.

Give five meanings of forgiveness.

The work of the majestic God (verses 1-3):

The work of the Creator God: Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. You who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be moved forever(verses 4,5). The Lord created the angels as ministering angels, fast as the wind, powerful as fire. This verse is quoted in Hebrews 1:7. Angels always praise Him and pronounce Him holy in His presence (Isaiah 6:1-3). The righteous will join them, saying, You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You(Nehemiah 9:6). And because our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29), He made His ministers burning fire, ready to do His bidding in heaven and on earth.

The work of the sovereign God: You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains; they went down into the valleys, to the place which You founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth(verse 6-9). In the beginning water covered the face of the earth, as a garment covers the body. Then God commanded, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so(Genesis 1:9). The water still obeys God's voice, which set limits to it that it cannot overstep. The Lord says, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it(Jeremiah 5:22). He did that to protect the earth from destruction, as He promised Noah and his children: Thus I establish My covenant with you... never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth(Genesis 9:11). God made the strength of the mighty waters serve His creation; the water in the seas and rivers evaporates and goes up into the clouds, then falls down accompanied by the sound of thunder to water the mountains and cover them with vegetation. God brings down snow, which turns into water and goes back to its sources, enriching the valleys and producing good things for man, beast and bird.

The work of a mindful God (verses 10-18):This great God who created every living thing is mindful of all His creation. Christ said, Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?(Matthew 6:26).

The work of the God of order (verses 19-23):

Astonishment: O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions; this great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great. There the ships sail about; there is that Leviathan which You have made to play there(verses 24-26). After enumerating some of God's works, the psalmist stopped in astonishment to meditate on the greatness of the work of that wise Creator whose power and wisdom surpass the limits of our human mind. If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You(Psalms 139:18). Every righteous man sings of God's generosity, for He makes His riches overflow over the earth, filling it with His goodness. The sources of this riches are varied; treasures hidden in the depth of the earth, as well as those on the surface. But as many and manifold as they are, they all serve man, who should thank God along with Jacob, saying, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies(Genesis 32:10).

The psalmist ponders over the greatness of the realm of the sea, with all its diversity of fish and other creatures, both big and small. There are microscopic creatures we cannot see with the naked eye, and there is the gigantic Leviathan (or the crocodile). God provides all of them with food, so that they may play and frolic in gaiety. He made the sea subservient to man, bringing forth various foods from it. He also made it a facilitating medium for travelling and transporting things on board of ships that carry both people and goods.

Expectation: These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season. What You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good(verses 27,28). The Lord gives to all liberally and without reproach, but man, in his greed and avarice, likes to possess more! Thanks to God, there is no lack of food or resources in the world, but mankind creates a problem because of its uneven distribution. As to the animal, fish and bird kingdoms the issue is different because it is up to the Lord to provide food in due time, sufficiently and equally. Together with those the righteous man shouts, I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread(Psalms 37:25).

Submission: You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth(verses 29,30). God's creation lives under His authority, and in the shining of His light it sees light (Psalms 36:9). It derives life from Him and in Him it subsists. If God hides this light, darkness, fear, confusion and loss will prevail. The righteous man may feel that the Lord hid His face from him in times of trouble, persecution, apostasy or sickness. But for sure it is the sin of the sinner that hides God's face from him, as the Scripture says, But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear(Isaiah 59:2). God has authority over death as much as He does over life. This is only natural because He is the Creator; once He withdraws a creature's spirit, it dies, and when He sends His Spirit, He renews the face of the earth. He created Adam from dust, blew in him and he became a living soul. His authority over our spirits is permanent; He either withdraws them or renews them. Also, His authority over our bodies is the same as His authority over our spirits. Christ raised Lazarus from the dead after three days (John 11), raised the son of the widow of Nain while on his way to be buried (Luke 7), and raised Jairus' daughter in the room in which she died (Mark 5). He still raises those who are dead in their sins and renews the life of the perishing sinner. He also forgives the sinner as He forgave the Samaritan woman (John 4), the adulterous woman (Luke 7), Matthew the tax collector (Mark 2) and Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9). We await a glorious life at the Second Coming of Christ from heaven. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and the dead who believe in Christ will rise first. He will then catch up them together with those who are alive in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

We worship Him because of His glory: May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works. He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the hills, and they smoke(verses 31,32). His glory endures forever; His kingdom will not perish. We worship Him, love Him and trust in Him because He first loved us (Hosea 14:4; 1 John 4:19). He rejoices in the work of His hands, those who do His will, submit to His authority and honour His law. The Scripture describes them as it came down in these words, Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly(Exodus 19:18).

We worship Him with singing and joy: I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being(verses 33,34). We worship Him with praise as long as we have a breath of life within us, thus we offer Him a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:15). In heaven, our praise to Him will not cease, so we might as well start now, because He loves our praise that pleases Him. Likewise, we rejoice in Him when He brings back our captivity, and we become like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing (Psalms 126:1,2).

We worship Him because He is the Judge: May sinners be consumed from the earth, and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!(verse 35). This request of the psalmist may mean either one of two things. Either that God should destroy the wicked in their wickedness (Psalms 34:21), or that they should die to sin as they repent in obedience to the apostle's command: Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord(Romans 6:11). In the light of the gospel teaching, the righteous man feels eager for God's rising with His light on the sinners, making them repent, because He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth(1 Timothy 2:4). Therefore our souls will bless the Lord and say, Hallelujah! Praise the LORD!

How is this psalm a poetical composition of Genesis chapter one?

2. Describe the feelings of the psalmist when he meditated on the God of creation.

How do we repara the Lord (verses 1-4)?

What should we repara about the Lord (verses 5-7)?

A covenant of home (verses 8-11):

The people of the covenant (verses 12-15):

Famine (verse 16):The psalmist says that God called for a famine to come over the land, as he said, For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labour of your hands(Haggai 1:11). God used famine in Canaan to achieve His purposes. He describes famine in this way: He destroyed all the provision of breadas if bread is a staff that props up life, just as Isaiah described the supply of bread and the supply of water (Isaiah 3:1).

Being sold and imprisoned (verses 17,18):God sent Joseph to Egypt even before the famine came, to prepare the path of exaltation and satisfaction for himself and his brothers, as he said to them, God sent me before you to preserve life(Genesis 45:5). Providence permitted Joseph to be sold into slavery and his feet to be put in fetters. The psalmist description of this was: He was laid in irons.This expression may mean that iron (a symbol of solidity) entered his soul, indicating that Joseph, the spoiled youngest son with his multi-coloured shirt, became as strong as iron in prison. God does not permit anything to harm the believer unless it be for good. Say to the righteous that it shall be well(Isaiah 3:10).

Exaltation and power (verses 19-22):Joseph remained in prison Until the time that his word came to pass,namely the time when God would fulfil his promises to Joseph in his dreams (Genesis 37:5-11). Therefore he had the right to say, This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life(Psalm 119:50). Joseph's confinement in prison was a test of his faith, which he successfully passed, having learned humility and patience like Job did, When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside(Job 23:10,11). At the time appointed by God Pharaoh summoned Joseph to be Egypt's prime minister and chief wise man. God's promise When I choose the proper time(Psalm 75:2) came true.

Satisfaction (verse 23):Thus Jacob, the father of the tribes, came into Egypt and was a guest of Pharaoh. His descendants later on dwelt there as guests, not as landowners.

Prosperity (verse 24):The Scripture says that after Jacob came to Egypt The children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them(Exodus 1:7).

Persecution (verse 25):God allowed Pharaoh's heart to be turned against His people to get them to leave for the Promised Land, which God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thus out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet (Judges 14:14). He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power (2 Timothy 1:7).

Commissioning (verses 26,27):God prepared Moses to set the enslaved people free from Pharaoh's humiliation. He provided him with a scientific training in Egypt and spiritual exercise in Midian. He also prepared Aaron to be his assistant.

Plagues (verses 28-36):God delivered His persecuted people by means of certain plagues, which he inflicted upon Pharaoh, as mentioned in Exodus 7-11. The psalmist starts off with the ninth plague, the one of darkness (verse 28), because it was the one plague that spurred both Pharaoh and his people to drive the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moreover it was levelled against the god Ra (the sun), Pharaoh's chief god. Because of the plague of darkness neither Moses nor Aaron disobeyed God's commands, nor even Pharaoh. Afterwards, the psalmist enumerates the plagues from the first plague (verse 29), turning the water into blood; the frogs, which was the second (verse 30); the flies, which was the fourth; lice, which was the third (verse 31); hail, which was the seventh (verse 32); locusts, which was the eighth (verse 34) and finally to the death of all the firstborn, which was the tenth plague (verse 36). The psalmist did not mention the fifth and sixth plagues (the plagues of cattle and boils).

Exodus (verses 37,38):After the ten plagues, the Lord brought them out of Egypt laden with silver and gold, just like a triumphant army that had no feeble soldier; and the fear of them had fallen upon their enemies (verse 38). When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him(Proverbs 16:7).

Providence (verses 39-45):

The goal of fulfilling the covenant (verse 45):God did all this as His part of the covenant and his people, as their part, ought to have observed His statutes and kept His laws. Yet, they did not do that, as we shall see in the following psalm. But we are deeply indebted to God because If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself(2 Timothy 2:13).

How should we repara the Lord?

What should we repara for the Lord?

We repara God with adoration (verses 1,2):The psalmist begins with Praise the LORD!inviting the hearer to worship and giving thanks to the Lord, for He is good and merciful. The psalmist and his people experienced his goodness and mercy down the ages. We, too, share their experience and say, I will mention the loving kindnesses of the LORD and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the great goodness(Isaiah 63:7). All the sins of the children of Israel have not put and end to His mercy. People's goodness may be suspended and their disobedience may continue, but His mercy remains. The psalmist says, If I say, `My foot slips,' Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up(Psalms 94:18). No tongue, however glib, nor voice, however golden, can fully proclaim the miraculous greatness of bountiful deeds.

We repara Him with obedience (verse 3):How happy are those who keep justice, and those who do righteousness at all times! From them will come the sweet aroma of Christ, for Thus says the LORD: `Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed'(Isaiah 56:1).

We repara Him with a sense of belonging (verses 4,5):The psalmist seeks from the Lord to repara him and his people with favour, for salvation comes from Him alone. He submits his request with the boldness of a son, saying that salvation is Your salvationand the people are Your people, Your chosen ones, Your nationand Your inheritance.He asks the Lord to repara with the favour You have toward Your peopleand to answer him from heaven saying, In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You(Isaiah 49:8). He expects the Lord to visit him with the salvation of Your peopleto see the benefit of Your chosen onesand rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,and then glory with Your inheritance.How marvellous it is to come near the Lord in prayer, confident that we belong to Him, and that we have a personal relationship with Him.

Breaking the covenant at the time of the exodus (verses 7-12):Murmuring and lack of faith in God was the prime sin of the children of the Israel at the Red Sea. Forgetfulness and lack of understanding caused it, which is what Moses mentioned in his poem after he had completed writing the Torah. He said, For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them. Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!(Deuteronomy 32:28,29). The Book of Exodus (14:10-12) speaks of the same thing; for after the plagues that afflicted Pharaoh, he ordered them to go out, but he regretted his decision and followed them to the western shore of the Red Sea. Faced with the sea in front of them and the enemy closing in on them from behind, the people said to Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? ... For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.They could not understand God's grace, neither could they realize His love for them, or His power to save them. The psalmist describes their sin as rebellion to the divine will. God could have granted them their request and brought them back to Egypt, but for His name's sake and His mercy He saved them, so that the nations might know that He is the Almighty. He divided the Red Sea for them to cross. When the Egyptians followed them, they were drowned. At this time the children of Israel believed in the words of their Lord and sang His praises. But all this was temporary. For they soon reverted to their forgetfulness, ignorance and rebellion.

Breaking the covenant in the desert of Sinai (verses 13-23):

Breaking the covenant within sight of the land of Canaan (verses 24-33):

Breaking the covenant in the land of Canaan (verses 34-46):

A prayer (verse 47):After detailing the sins of his people throughout history and confessing them honestly, the psalmist lifted up a prayer as though he were saying, How terrible are the many sins which we have committed, and for which You punished us with mercy. We deserved a worse punishment than what fell upon us. But now we confess our sins and repent of them, taking refuge in the riches of Your mercy. So please restore us back to our land and we promise You to remain faithful to the covenant this time, so that we may praise You and glory in this praise. We are still Your people on whom Your name has been called, and You are our Lord and only shelter in whom we trust and in whom we rejoice.

Doxology (verse 48):This doxology could be the conclusion of this psalm, as well as a glorification that concludes the fourth book of the Psalter, which started with Psalm 90. In this doxology the psalmist blesses his faithful Lord for His covenant from everlasting to everlasting, as David glorified Him when he blessed the children of Israel saying, Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever ... Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name(1 Chronicles 29:10,13). And as the Levites asked the children of Israel to glorify Him, saying, Stand up and bless the LORD your God forever and ever! Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!(Nehemiah 9:5).

Mention the four times the children of Israel broke the covenant of the Lord.

What did the children of Israel do to offend the Lord in Sinai?

Because the Lord is good (verse 1):The psalmist calls his people to praise the Lord and thank Him because of the His goodness, which is manifest in His care. He had prepared the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve ever before He created them, but His goodness appeared in a much more profound way when He covered their nakedness after they fell. We still experience every day the goodness of the caring God and redeeming God, and his everlasting mercy that does not change. He does not treat us according to our sins, but He descends to us through His forgiveness in Christ. To such mercy we say, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us(Romans 5:8).

Because the Lord is Redeemer (verse 2):The psalmist means that the children of Israel were captives in Babylon, but God redeemed them from the hand of the enemy, as He had redeemed them from the tortures of Pharaoh and caused the angel to pass over them when he saw the blood on their doors (Exodus 12:13,14). The Redeemer is the next of kin. The greatest redemp-tion, of course, is the redemption from the imprisonment of the devil: For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a pro-pitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteous-ness(Romans 3:22-25). Christ is the nearest relation, because in the fullness of time the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Believers say that we all received grace for grace from Christ's fullness. Therefore we call him saying, Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies(Psalms 69:18).

Because the Lord gathers (verse 3):The Lord promised that after 70 years of captivity He would bring back His people from Babylon to their own land, and He fulfilled His promise as Isaiah prophesied, He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dis-persed of Judah from the four corners of the earth(Isaiah 11:12). In this verse the psalmist records the answer to the request that he made at the end of the previous psalm: Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise(Psalms 106:47). Today we thank God who restores our souls from the captivity and imprisonment of sin, so that we may say, He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake(Psalms 23:3).

The wandering man (verses 4-9):The psalmist presents an image of human weakness. It is represented first in travellers who lost their way while crossing a desert. They almost perished from thirst and hunger, because they could not find food, drink and shelter. They cried out to the Lord, and He rescued them by guiding them in the right path where they could find an inhabited country. The psalmist then invited them to thank the Lord for His mercy and miracles. This exactly is the situation of man when he wanders away from the house of the Father, and cries out, Be merciful to me a sinner!The Lord will then guide him to Christ who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), the One who gives rest to the weary (Matthew 11:28) and living water to the thirsty (John 4:10), who fills the hungry with the bread of life (John 6:51) and guides his followers the heavenly city (Hebrews 12:22-24). Praise be to the Lord who filled a hungry soul with bread, just as the father filled his prodigal son who could find no food other than that of the swine, and gave him a fatherly banquet (Luke 15). As it is written: `Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God'(1 Corinthians 2:9,10).

The imprisoned man (verses 10-16):The psalmist presents a second image of human weakness. Prisoners bound up in the darkness of the prison on account of some transgressions they have committed, are reduced to abject humiliation with no advocate or defender to take up their cause. Yet they cried out to the Lord, Repara me, Lordand He heard their cry, saved them, brought them out of the darkness and cut their fetters. The psalmist calls them to thank the Lord for His mercy and miracles, because He breaks the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two. As a result, every one of them will say, O LORD, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD(Psalms 116:16,17). This is the situation of man who is imprisoned by his sins; Christ saves him and shines His light upon him (John 8:12), sets him free (John 8:36) and draws him out from the pit of prison and helps him. Christ, the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace(Luke 1:78,79). He is the One who said, To set at liberty those who are oppressed(Luke 4:18).

The sick man (verses 17-22):The psalmist presents a third image of human weakness as represented in some fools who lost the right path and ended up sick. Sin may be a cause of sickness, as Christ said to a sick man He healed, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you(John 5:14). But sin is not the cause of every sickness, for the man born blind had not sinned, neither had his parents (John 9:2,3). The situation that the psalmist describes is the situation of a sinful sick man who lost his appetite for food and his body lost weight till the man was on the verge of death. At this point he called out to God asking for His salvation, and the Lord sent His word, healed him and delivered him from death. The word of God carries the authority of God, for He speaks and it is done. The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow(Hebrews 4:12). The psalmist calls all those who are like this sick man to thank the Lord for His mercy and miracles, slaughter the sacrifices of praise, to enumerate God's favours towards them with singing. The apostle James exhorted us to pray for the sick as he said, Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. `Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much'(James 5:14-16). Then the one who seeks healing will offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name(Hebrews 13:15).

The drowning man (verses 23-32):The psalmist presents yet a fourth image of a human weakness. Experienced sailors had gone through the vehement tempests and experienced God's wonders in the deep waters. But God ordered the raging winds to stir up waves, causing the ship to rise and fall rapidly over great distances, while the sailors reeled like drunken men, not able to draw upon their previous wisdom in such a way to enable them to face this final and terrible situation. They all discovered that they are weak and small. When those brave and experienced men found themselves unable to face the sea, they knew that they would have no other shelter than God's mercy, so they cried out to God and He heard their cry and ordered the winds and the waves to calm down. Then He made them reach their destiny safe and sound. So they had to thank Him for His mercy and miracles. A certain wise man said, Let those who do not know prayer face the sea.This is the situation of everyone who faces problems in his work and finds himself unable to cope with them despite all his experience. He cries out to God for help, I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth; praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD(Psalms 40:1-3). It is also the situation of the born-again believer who is deeply rooted in God's love, while storms rage around him and make him cry out, Do You not care that we are perishing?But the Lord rebukes the wind so that the wind ceases and there is a great calm (Mark 4:37-41).

He turns the wilderness into rivers of water (verses 33-38):These verses say that God turns fertile lands into deserts because of the evils of their inhabitants. Moses said that the Lord strikes the land of the wicked, turning it into brimstone, salt and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath(Deuteronomy 29:23). He also brings rain down on the arid desert, turning it into a green expanse in which the hungry may find food and the poor places to live, as Isaiah says, For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water(Isaiah 35:6,7). Pastures for the increasing flocks will abound, and they will cultivate fields and plant vineyards, and the Lord will bless them so that they may increase in number. This is the situation of the people who will return to the Lord in repentance, and as a result He will satisfy them with the living water as He did the Samaritan woman (John 4). But the situation of one who rejects God as Judas Iscariot did will result in his own destruction (John 17:12).

He sets the poor on high (verses 39-42):When people's wealth and possessions increase, they may become proud. Then God punishes them by death and destroys them. They lose their joy and forfeit their peace. They bow down from the pressure of the evil and grief they committed in word and in deed. Their proud leaders also received humiliation and indignity, and wander in their evil paths. As to those who are poor in spirit, those who believe that everything they have is a gift from the Lord, He will draw them up from the humiliation of poverty, increase their number, and their livestock will multiply. For `God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'(1 Peter 5:5). As a result, every mouth that speaks against God will be stopped, and the righteous will rejoice in their God's faithfulness and goodness, because His mercy endures forever.

The confidence of the one who praises: O God, my heart is steadfast(verse 1a). The psalmist opens with an expression of his confidence in the Lord because of his dependence on His fellowship. He raises the motto: Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You(Psalms 73:25). Sometimes the psalmist says, My heart is fearful because the winds of life blow over me, and storms and billows beset and endanger my ship.But when the Lord is in the ship of a believer's life, that believer cannot perish, but rather shout, You have put gladness in my heart ... I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety(Psalms 4:7,8).

The thanksgiving of the one who praises: I will sing and give praise, even with my glory(verse 1b). A steadfast heart sings songs and hymns to the Lord, because the devil proved unable to shake his trust in his God. Saul used to chase David before he was king, and after he was raised to the throne enemies threatened the borders of his country. But neither Saul's pursuit nor the enemies' attack frightened him because he knew that all his affairs were in the hands of the Lord. His heart was, therefore, steadfast, his tongue rejoiced and his lips sang praises and spiritual songs, which echoed in the mountain caves where he hid. As a result, everyone knew that his peace came from the Lord and not from circumstances. Paul and Silas walked in the footsteps of David. When they were thrown into jail in Philippi, their hearts soared up to the heights of joy through prayer and praise, so that the foundations of the jail shook. This led to the salvation of the jail keeper and his household (Acts 16).

Even with my glory.Both his lips and his glory sang, i.e. the best there was in the depths of his being. He sang out all that his mind thought of, all that his tongue could express and all that his imagination brought up. He praised the glory of the likeness in which the Lord created him, so he cried, I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well(Psalms 139:14). He also praised the glory of the new life that God gave him, as though he were saying, Lord, You glorified me and raised me up from the death of my sins. You resurrected me from the grave of sin, set me free, and released me to the liberty of the glory of the children of God. All my glory comes from You; it serves You and lifts up Your name: `But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head' (Psalms 3:3).

We become unhappy when we look at things through the eyes of the world, but when we regard things from Christ's perspective we grow happy.

The enthusiasm of the one who praises: Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn(verse 2), as though his lute and harp fell asleep with him when he went to bed. On waking up at dawn to commune with his God, he awakened them to share his tunes and melodies as he lifted up to the Lord a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips, giving thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:15). He says, As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness(Psalms 17:15). How delightful it is to seek the Lord in the early morning with our hearts, so that He would give us what we need to carry the responsibilities of our day and face our problems.

The place of the one who praises: I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations(verse 3). The Jews neither mixed with the heathen nor dealt with the Samaritans. But, filled with Spirit, David arose with his heart and mind to give thanks to the Lord amongst all peoples, both Jews and Gentiles, and declare in their presence that he rejoiced in the Lord. Christ also revealed to us that God loves the whole world, that He does not make distinctions between one man and another on a racial basis: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ(Galatians 3:26-28). The Lord has commanded us to go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to all creation. We must walk in this evangelistic spirit, which surpassed the boundaries of race, colour and language. How beautiful it is for brothers and sisters to come together, because there the LORD commanded the blessing; life forevermore(Psalms 133:3).

The motives of the one who praises: For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds(verse 4). At the time of the exodus God's mercy was shown in the pillar of cloud that moved ahead of His people to guide and protect them from the heat of the sun (Exodus 13:21). When their enemies pursued them, the pillar of cloud moved from the front and stood behind them to protect them from their enemies (Exodus 14:19). In the days of Joshua, God's exalted mercy and uplifted truth was great toward them. He made the sun stand still in the middle of the sky, and not to go down for about a whole day (Joshua 10:13). The Lord surrounded the psalmist with mercy and truth, so he burst into spontaneous praise to the Lord. The psalmist knew that he de-served to be punished, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ(Romans 6:23). He needed mercy be-cause he deserved destruction; therefore God's mercy was great above the heavens and covered his evil and sins. Mercy covered him and he took shelter in it from death, just as the prodigal son took shelter in his father's bosom and forgiveness (Luke 15:20). Because divine justice (truth) must be satisfied, it also rose up and reached the clouds. The psalmist sang songs about it because he saw the sign of a covenant in the rainbow (Genesis 9:13). He also saw the covenant in the rain that comes down to water the land, so that it can yield food for man, bird and animal. Truly, Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed(Psalms 85:10).

The humility of the one who praises: Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth(verse 5). The psalmist felt how small his praise and glorification of the Lord were, for He is the Lord, seated upon the high and uplifted throne, to whom the angels sing: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!(Isaiah 6:1,3). Most people, however, do not feel so, and need to hear the divine command: Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day(Isaiah 2:10,11). No matter how great the believer's praise, it does not measure up to the Lord's majesty and greatness. So he calls upon the exalted Lord to exalt Himself even higher above the heavens, and to let His glory tower above all the earth. He asked Him to reign over the hearts and lives of the believers, so that all of them, big and small, should come to know Him, every knee should bow to Him, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and every tongue should confess His unlimited power and unending sovereignty. He is the Lord of the past, the present and the future.

The hope of the one who praises: That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me(verse 6). The psalmist hopes that the hand of God, the great King, will be stretched out towards him with an answer, to deliver him because he is the Lord's beloved and lover. He has asked that the Lord and His truth should be exalted above all, so that all his enemies should bow down before Him, His beloved ones who take shelter under His wings should be delivered, and all those who call upon His name be saved. From His holy heaven the Lord inclines His ear and hears. How great is the salvation of the Lord's right hand that works mightily on behalf of his children, healing their bodies, setting their spirits free from the captivity of sin, transgressions and destruction. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms ... pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much(James 5:13-16).

Promises fulfilled in the past: God has spoken in His holiness: 'I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver'(verses 7,8). The psalmist speaks of God's previous dealings with Joshua when He divided the Jordan River. This allowed the people to cross over and take possession of the lands to the east: Succoth, Gilead and Manasseh, and the lands to the west: Shechem, Ephraim and Judah. They measured the land and divided it between the tribes. The Lord has spoken in His holiness, and everything He spoke was fulfilled. None of His good words failed. He rescued all the op-pressed in the land, guided those who lost their way in the desert of Sinai, turned those nomadic Bedouins into soldiers conquering lands without having received any prior military education. He created priests out of them without having received any clerical education. He was their great Leader and good Teacher.

Promises fulfilled in the present: Moab is my wash pot; over Edom I will cast my shoe; over Philistia I will triumph. Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?(verses 9,10). The psalmist faced three enemies who attacked him. The first one was Moab. He envisioned his victory over them through the eyes of faith. He saw himself turning them into a wash pot in which he would wash his feet from the long, hard road of subjecting and enslaving them. Edom was the second of those enemies. The psalmist saw himself casting his shoe over Edom, namely taking possession of their lands and dominating them, as a fulfilment of the Lord's promises to Joshua: Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses(Joshua 1:3). The third enemy, however, was Philistia. The psalmist saw himself shouting over it as a sign of victory. The Lord has accomplished for David what he had hoped for by faith. The Scriptures say, After this it came to pass that David attacked the Philistines and subdued them ... Then he defeated Moab. Forcing them down to the ground, he measured them off with a line ... So the Moabites became David's servants(2 Samuel 8:1,2,14).

Just as David had three enemies, the believer also faces three ene-mies: The flesh, the world and the devil. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another(Galatians 5:17). The believer must rise up to resist the lust of the flesh that goes contrary to the will of God. The second enemy, however, is the world with its false principles and short-lived cravings. Believers hear the Lord calling them, Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God ... Resist the devil and he will flee from you(James 4:4,7). The third enemy is the devil who misleads people by his faulty words, trying to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Yet, he cannot do more than suggest, and he can-not twist anyone's arm to carry out his suggestion. If the believer is drawn away by the devil's suggestion and is enticed by it, he sins, because if lust dwells in a heart it conceives sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death(James 1:14,15). And the devil was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him ... for he is a liar and the father of it(John 8:44).

Yet, the Lord who granted victory to His people in the past under the leadership of Joshua and Moses, and empowered David by the Holy Spirit, He Himself is able to keep us from stumbling. He puts on us the whole armour, that we may be able to stand against the wiles and attacks of the devil, not conforming ourselves to the people of this world, nor applying their principles. Though we live in the world, the world does not live in us. Then we will be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, and present our lives on the altar of dedication as a living and holy sacrifice (Romans 12:1,2).

Promises to be fulfilled in the future (verses 11-13):The psalmist looks forward to the future with hope and confidence, telling his God of the longings of his heart.

How could the psalmist praise God in his difficulty?

According to this psalm, what are the promises to be fulfilled in the future?

A request from the silent God: Do not keep silent(verse 1a). Because of the intensity of the psalmist's pains he felt that the Lord had kept silent and not intervened for a long time. His thoughts got agitated within him and the uproar of the enemies rose outside him. He, therefore, cried out for the Lord's intervention to disperse his persecutors and put an end to his fears. No doubt the Lord would answer him, saying, Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you(Isaiah 49:15). So let us pray and hope in Him, expecting His answer.

A request from the praise-worthy God: O God of my praise!(verse 1b). As weary and bitter of soul as he was because his enemies spoke evil of him, this affected neither the psalmist's trust in the Lord nor his relationship with His God, who is his stronghold in times of trouble. So he called upon Him with thankful praise for His previous and coming blessings which would save his soul and heal his wounds: Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise(Jeremiah 17:14).

A request for deliverance from lying: For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue(verse 2). The mouth of the enemies opened against him and lashed him with fabricated lies that he could not bear. He ran out of patience and called his enemies three things: wicked, deceitful and lying. It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But ... for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment(Matthew 12:34-36).

A request from a pure heart:On examining himself, the psalmist found three good things.

A request to put the enemy to trial: Set a wicked man over him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin(verses 6,7). The psalmist asks the Lord to set against his enemy someone even more evil than the enemy himself, so that the punishment fits the offence. He also asks for an accuser to stand at his enemy's right hand and heap accusations against him, so that the accuser may disclose the enemy's offence and evil counsels. He prays that the prayer of the psalmist's enemy will not be accepted, because it is abhorrent to Lord. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight(Proverbs 15:8).

The enemy forfeits his office: Let his days be few, and let another take his office(verse 9). This was exactly King Saul's lot when he set himself against David and sought to destroy him. He was destroyed instead and David seized the kingdom. This was also the fate of Judas the traitor whose office was taken up by another (Acts 1:20). Wishing that his days might be few may suggest a lack of blessing. The wicked may live long, but his fruits are bad and unpleasing to the Lord.

The enemy's family turn poor: Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; let them seek their bread also from their de-solate places(verses 9,10). Because the Lord shortens the span of the wicked one's life and brings him to an untimely death, his children become orphans and his wife becomes a widow. They lose their provider and suffer want; they dwell in desolate places and desire bread. This will never happen to the righteous, who says, I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread(Psalms 37:25).

The enemy goes bankrupt: Let the creditor seize all that he has, and let strangers plunder his labour(verse 11). He sows much but harvests nothing. He pays silver but gets no bread. He labours but is never satisfied. He eats but does not get filled. He drinks but is not quenched. He clothes himself but is not warm. He earns wages but only to put them into a bag with holes (Isaiah 55:2; Haggai 1:6). His labour and toils go in vain. Blessing departs from him and everything he earns goes to the creditor and the strangers.

The enemy's future is dark: Let there be none to extend mercy to him, nor let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be reparaed before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be continually before the LORD, that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth(verses 12-15). Parents eat sour grapes and their children's teeth are set on edge. Socially, the wicked people leave behind a bad memory. Economically, they bequeath their children debts. Physically, they pass their diseases on to their offspring. This certainly affects the future of their children who are blamed for their problems by their contemporaries. Even if a wicked person repents after years of wickedness and receives forgiveness from the Lord, people still reproach his children, because God forgets the transgressions of a penitent, but men repara them. The crucified thief repented and even entered paradise, but people must have continued to reproach his children and grandchildren because their father and grandfather was a thief who died nailed to a cross!

Curse falls upon the enemy: Because he did not repara to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; as he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, so let it enter his body like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, and for a belt with which he girds himself continually(verses 16-19). The Lord was gracious to this wicked person and extended mercy to him, but he did not show mercy to the poor beggar; he rather drove him away from his door and sent him with curses and painful words that crushed his heart so that he almost died. God blessed him with the blessing of the world, but the man loved cursing and turned to wickedness. So blessing went far from him. Cursing surrounded him like a garment he wore night and day, and entered his body like water that causes the curse and makes the belly swell and the thigh rot (Numbers 5:22). The curse permeated through his bones like oil, making them weak and brittle. Water and oil usually symbolize blessing, but this blessing turned into a curse for the wicked who drove away the poor. The Lord says to him, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.... And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life(Matthew 25:45,46).

The judgment of the wicked: Let this be the Lord's reward to my accusers, and to those who speak evil against my person(verse 20). The Lord is compassionate, righteous and extends mercy to all; He exerts longsuffering with the sinner to bring him to repentance. The Lord is ... longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance(2 Peter 3:9). As to those who grow obstinate, they earn terrible wrath and judgment for themselves as the wages for their lack of repentance.

For sake of the Lord's name: But You, O GOD the Lord, deal with me for Your name's sake(verse 21a). When the Lord's light shone on the psalmist, carrying along His active grace, he stopped cursing his enemy, and hurried to the name of the LORD, the strong tower; to which the righteous run and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). The name describes the character. And the Lord's character is loving, powerful, holy and faithful. The believer, on the other hand, is weak. He knows that he does not deserve God's favour, so he takes shelter in the precious name by which he was called, and says, Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth(Psalms 115:1).

Because of the declaration of the Lord's mercy: Because Your mercy is good, deliver me(verse 21b). Man does not deserve deliverance, but God's good mercy delivers him any way. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!(Psalms 34:8). If I say, `My foot slips,' Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up(Psalms 94:18).

Because the psalmist is powerless: For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust. My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. I also have become a reproach to them; when they look at me, they shake their heads(verses 22-25). The wicked drove away poor and needy people, and wanted to slay the broken in heart (verse 16). Perhaps the psalmist was one of those, so he became like a shadow when it lengthens toward sunset and is ready to disappear. He started to shake as though locusts sapped his strength, or started to shake himself like a locust ready to fly away. Out of fear, he kept away from food, so his knees trembled and he lost weight. He became an object of ridicule to his enemies. This motivated him to seek God's help.

To declare the Lord's power: Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy, that they may know that this is Your hand; that You, LORD, have done it!(verses 26,27). The Lord certainly will rush to his aid and deliver him. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles ... Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD(Psalms 34:6; 40:3). This is how the Lord declares to all that He is the Saviour of His people. Then they will repeat what the peoples of the earth said as He brought His people out of the land of bondage to a spacious land: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, `The LORD be magnified!'(Psalms 40:16).

A blessing after a curse: Let them curse, but You bless(verse 28a). Will a curse afflict him whom the Lord has blessed? God said to Abraham, I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you(Genesis 12:3). Balaam could not curse God's people because the Lord had already blessed them, saying, You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed(Numbers 22:12).

Joy after shame: When they arise, let them be ashamed, but let Your servant rejoice(verse 28b). How ashamed was the officer of Philippi's prison as he saw himself a prisoner of his own fear, while Paul and Silas were released in their freedom! This showed in his cry: Sirs, what must I do to be saved?(Acts 16:30). They, on the other hand, were praising and praying. Paul said to the Philippians, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice(Philippians 4:4).

Salvation after danger: Let my accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn him(verses 29-31). The psalmist's enemies meant to do him harm, but the Lord meant their harm for good (Genesis 50:20). It was his enemies that were put to shame, while he was released to praise and thank God, because God saved him when he was nigh unto death. What a contrast between the wicked who stands as an accuser at his right hand (verse 6) and the poor at whose right hand the Lord stands to help and rescue him!

Why did the Church consider Psalm 109 a Messianic psalm?

Meditating on verse 4 of this psalm, how can a believer give himself to prayer?

The declaration of Christ's kingdom: The LORD said to my Lord(verse 1a). At the opening of the psalm David de-clares, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that there is a dia-logue running among the three divine Persons within the Holy Trinity. This is not surprising, for indeed In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God(John 1:1). David says that Christ the King is his Lord, hence the LORD asks his Lord, the Messiah, who is the Word and Anointed of the LORD, to sit at His right hand. Now we have heard God say in Psalm 2, I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, `You are My Son, today I have begotten You'... Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him(Psalms 2:7,12). Joshua expressed the same to the commander of the army of the LORD when he came to him. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, `What does my Lord say to His servant?' He answered him, `Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy'(Joshua 5:14,15). So let us have sensitive ears like Samuel who said when called by the Lord, Speak, for Your servant hears(1 Samuel 3:10). Let us obey what the Virgin Mary said to the guests at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, Whatever He says to you, do it(John 2:5). Let us join Saul of Tarsus in saying to Christ, Lord, what do You want me to do?(Acts 9:6). May our hearts be filled with trust in the Lord King whenever buffeted by the storms and waves of life, for the Lord King will come to us to calm us down. He will subject the waves under His feet, as He had already come for His disciples when He walked on the waves of the Sea of Galilee, which was ready to swallow them up. He calmed it down and rescue them (Mark 6:45-53).

The eminence of Christ's kingdom: Sit at My right hand(verse 1b). Sitting at the right hand signifies an honourable and great position, as well as the completion of work. The Lord sent Christ, His Word, into our world to fulfil the work of redemption, and having completed it, He said, I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was(John 17:4,5). Thus He earned the right to sit at the right hand of majesty in the highest, and God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth (Philippians 2:9,10). The equality between LORDand my Lordis fully apparent in the Gospel. The Messiah is greater than David for David calls Him my Lord. David did not ascend to heaven, but Christ was received up into heaven (Mark 16:19). He is also greater than the angels, for God never said to any of the angels, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool(Hebrews 1:13). The LORD and my Lord are on one throne, for Christ said, I and My Father are one(John 10:30). Only one is equal to the Father in substance, true God of true God, light of light. Apostle Peter said of Him on the Day of Pentecost, This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: `The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ(Acts 2:32-36). The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, on My own throne, equal to Me, after You have completed the work of redemption.He could have never asked a created human being, however holy, influential or knowledgeable of the se-crets of the heavens, to sit at the right hand of the LORD. The right hand is the place of authority, and humans are created of dust.

The triumph of Christ's kingdom (verses 1c,2):

The army of Christ the King (verse 3):

The eminence of Christ's priesthood: The LORD has sworn and will not relent, `You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek'(verse 4). Christ's eminent priestly sta-tus is made known because it is declared by a divine oath. God has declared Christ's kingship by a word from Himself that carries His authority: The LORD said to my Lord.But He declared Christ's priesthood by an oath: The LORD has sworn and will not relent. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for con-firmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show... the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath(Hebrews 6:16,17). Scriptures compare the priesthood of the tribe of Levi and that of Christ as follows: For they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: `The LORD has sworn and will not relent, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,' by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant(Hebrews 7:21,22).

There were two priestly orders; one of Aaron, which is simple priesthood, and another of Melchizedek, which comprises both priesthood and kingship. In this psalm we see a revelation of the eminence of Christ's order- it is of the order of Melchizedek, not that of Aaron. The story of Melchizedek is found in Genesis 14:18-20. He was a king with a Semitic name meaning king of righteousness. He was the king of Salem, i.e. Jerusalem, which means City of Peace, as well as being a priest to the Most High. He offered Abraham bread and wine for food and blessed him, so Abraham gave him the tithes to support him. This should mean that Melchizedek must be greater than Abraham, because he blessed Abraham. Melchizedek was not a Hebrew, but a keeper of God's old law while living among the heathens. Therefore he preceded Abraham and the priests that came after him. Melchizedek represents Christ; both were kings and priests at the same time, and neither of them was of the tribe of Levi. Their priesthood does not have a known beginning or end, for Christ has neither beginning of days nor end of life(Hebrews 7:3). Both of them reign with righteousness and peace. Christ is righteous within Himself and He makes righteous all those who believe in Him, so much so that they say, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ(Romans 5:1). Christ is the King of peace who said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid... and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus(John 14:27; Philippians 4:7). He is the peaceful King who does not fight, but does good. When the Pharisees conspired against Him to kill Him, Jesus knew it,... withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: `Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust'(Matthew 12:14-21). Christ's priesthood towered above Levi's due to its permanence, for His priesthood endures forever, according to the order of Melchizedek: Since He always lives to make intercession for them(Hebrews 7:25). This contrasts with Levi's priesthood, which ended in death. So the children of Israel had to appoint a new high priest when the old one died. In view of Aaron and his descendants' sinful nature, the high priest of the order of Aaron was required to enter into the holy of holies carrying blood to atone for himself first. If the Lord was pleased with him, he would return and enter again with blood to atone for the sins of the people. Christ, however, entered the holy of holies not with blood to atone for Himself, because He did not need to offer a sacrifice for Himself, but with His own blood for others. The high priest of the order of Aaron used to offer the sacrifice to the Most Holy once every year, but Christ offered one sacrifice, and obtained eternal redemption. On the basis of this redemption, He is the guarantor of a better covenant.

The victory of Christ's priesthood: The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries(verses 5,6). What does the Lord do to him who rejects Christ and His kingdom? And what is the result of hardness of the heart that rejects God's salvation? It is the terrible judgment on the last day. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil(John 3:16-19). Speaking of judgment may sound harsh and cruel, but we must be aware of the seriousness of the divine laws: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap(Galatians 6:7). Those wicked ones sowed darkness, and now they reap eternal destruction and judgment. True, God is a loving God, but at the same time He is a just God.

The exaltedness of Christ's priesthood: He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; therefore He shall lift up the head(verse 7). Perhaps Christ was meant as the one who shall drink of the brook and lift up His head in victory, or it may be the army of Christ. But Christ's victory is actually the victory of His army. When the rains of divine blessing inundate our land, the rivers will fill with water to fill and refresh God's people.

Perhaps the psalmist thought back to the judge Gideon and his victorious army. An army of thirty-two thousand soldiers rallied to him and ten thousand remained behind. So the Lord said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for Me... lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, `My own hand has saved me.' Now therefore, proclaim..., `Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart...' And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained. But the LORD said to Gideon, `The people are still too many; bring them down to the water... Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.' And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men... Then the LORD said to Gideon, `By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand'(Judges 7:2-7). And it was so. Those who drank of the brook by the wayside won the victory, and lifted up their heads in triumph. The brook never impeded their march; it rather urged them on.

Or perhaps the psalmist meant that the victorious army of Christ rests to drink and recover strength, then carries on the march of their spiritual war against the powers of evil. For the Lord calls them, Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters(Isaiah 55:1). Christ said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive(John 7:37-39).

The Holy Spirit fell upon the followers of Christ on the Day of Pentecost, giving them strength to overcome their fears and weak-nesses, and they became witnesses to Christ in Jerusalem, in Judea and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). The people of Christ still drink their fill of His Holy Spirit as He fills them. They drink their fill of the justice of their cause, as well as God's favour upon them, God's blessings and faithfulness and their own victories. So they say, How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures(Psalms 36:7,8).

So let us drink of the brook of God's bliss and call others to drink their fill with us, so that we may lift up our triumphant heads with the salvation of the Lord, until we accomplish the final victory that is described by Revelation: And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb ... the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever(Revelation 22:1-5).

What is the difference between the priestly order of Aaron and that of Melchizedek?

What is the meaning of verse 7 of this psalm, which says, He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; therefore He shall lift up the head?