Psalm 45:1-9

Capitalized pronouns… Both the NKJV and the NASB capitalize “You” and “Your” in today’s reading. But as we read through most of these verses, it sounds more like the writer is speaking to (or of) his earthly king, possibly David or one of David’s descendants. Verses 6 and 7a could clearly be spoken to God, but the rest of these verses seem more earthly. My NASB Study Bible cleared it up a bit. They suggest that this Psalm was written on the occasion of the (earthly) king’s wedding, either for David or one of his descendants. But after the exile this Psalm was applied to the Messiah. So we can read this Psalm as if it were written for the king’s wedding or we can read it as if it is applied to Jesus, possibly on the occasion of his heavenly marriage to His bride, the church. Clearly the early church saw this Psalm as written to Jesus, our Messiah. Verses 6 and 7 are quoted directly in Hebrews 1:8-9.

Psalm 44:17-26

Two days ago, after reading the first eight verses of Psalm 44, I posted “…it’s all good, the writer recalling Israel’s past glory. It’s all remembrance, thanksgiving, confidence and praise…”. Then yesterday was just the opposite: “…the writer is … leveling the blame at God” for his situation. Blaming God, angry at God. He’s still there today. In spite of the writer’s claim to faithfulness, he maintains that God is against him and his situation: “…yet You have broken us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.” (v. 19)

I can understand a forceful plea for God to intervene, as in Awake! Why are You sleeping, O Lord? Rouse Yourself! Do not reject us forever! (v. 23) And continuing with Rise up; come to our help! (v. 26a) But ascribing blame to God for whatever situation the psalmist is in… In my mind, that’s wrong!

Psalm 44:9-16

Continuing the Psalm 44 lament. Today’s reading is like none other that we have read in the Psalms. Yes, the writer is recounting his situation that brings out the lament, but he is leveling the blame at God for that situation. In six of today’s eight verses the psalmist is angry at God for allowing this situation to happen. Then in the last two verses he bemoans the disgrace, the shame that he feels from the taunts of the enemy.

I find myself angry at the psalmist blaming God, then doing his own “woe is me” because of the situation he and his people are in. I’m going to leave it there, maybe comment more later in the day.

Happy Easter? Not from today’s reading…

Psalm 44:1-8

From today’s reading it may not look like it, but Psalm 44 is a lament. You’ll see in tomorrow’s reading that Israel’s foes have overtaken them – at least some tribes or portions of the land have been overrun. So the whole Psalm is a lament with all its elements – the psalmists’ situation, a cry for help, confidence in the Lord’s deliverance, a statement of innocence or desire for vindication, and thanksgiving or praise to end the Psalm.

But today it’s all good, the writer recalling Israel’s past glory. It’s all remembrance, thanksgiving, confidence and praise, with a full recognition of the Lord’s deliverance: …for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but Your right hand and Your arm, and the light of Your face… (v. 3). There may be a bit of pronoun confusion in the second verse, where both uses of “them” refer to the writer’s ancestors, the “our fathers” mentioned in the first verse. “They” were planted and “they” were set free.

An item from the first verse: O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us… I was thinking on two levels here, of what I had heard from my father (my mother died when I was four) and what I have shared with our kids. Mostly I was thinking of “shared faith” on those two levels. And without going into detail, it is clear to me that Carol and I need to continue to share our faith with our kids more than my father did with me and my siblings. His faith was on display through all that he did, but “back then” it was more about religion than faith. We all need to reflect our faith regularly to our kids, both in our words and our actions. I remember David Brannen telling us one time that our kids don’t stop being our kids just because they’ve left home and started their own family. True.

So tomorrow we’ll begin to feel the lament that is Psalm 44.

Psalm 43

Recall that today’s reading, Psalm 43 continues the lament that began in Psalm 42. In today’s first two verses the psalmist speaks of an ungodly nation, an unjust man, and the oppression of the enemy. Since the psalmist likely lives in the far north of Palestine, one wonders if the enemy, that “ungodly nation” is, in fact, one of the northern or eastern nations that are hostile to Israel. Or does an “unjust man” refer to a single individual? Not an important issue, just wondering…

What is important is that the psalmist wants to be cured of his illness or rid of his enemy so that he can join the entourage that will be going to Jerusalem: Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling! (v. 3) I was thinking of the light and truth by which the psalmist wishes to be led. Truth is straightforward; light might refer to understanding or knowledge or simply to the feeling of God’s presence. We should all be led by God’s light and truth!

One small item from my past – Then I will go to the altar of God… (v. 4a) The psalmist is probably speaking of the temple in Jerusalem, but “to the altar of God” is an item from my Boy Scout days, where there was an “Ad Altare Dei” merit badge for Catholic boys. I dropped out of Boy Scouts before earning any merit badges, but that would have been my first.

Psalm 42

Two Study Bibles pointed out that Psalms 42-43 are clearly one Psalm, but for some reason they have been split up in the Psalter. (See Ps. 42:5,11 today and Ps. 43:5 tomorrow.)

Again, Study Bible information… The heading, “…to the Sons of Korah” and the geographical names in verse 6 suggest that this Psalm reflects the annual pilgrimage from the far north of Palestine (where the Korahites had been assigned cities) to Jerusalem for Passover. However, in today’s reading it seems that the psalmist is ill and not able to make the journey. He regrets not going, both for his own longing for the festival and for his responsibility to lead the people in procession (v. 4). He is also troubled that his illness contributes to his enemies’ taunts and their continued rejection of God: …my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” (vv. 3b, 10b, twice mentioned for effect). Still, as with all laments, the psalmist expresses his confidence in God’s deliverance (vv. 5, 11), while also directly appealing to God for quicker action. (See v. 9.) But aren’t we all like that?

Psalm 41

I was struck by the benefits accorded a person who gives to the poor – s/he is blessed, delivered, protected, praised, defended, sustained, and healed. (vv. 1-3) Makes me think that we should be doing more…

David ties his sin and his illness together in verse 4. Shades of Job’s friends…! But this illness seems more pronounced than what he felt in his previous laments; in this one it seems that David is on his deathbed. His enemies are gloating, waiting for him to die. Even one of his best friends has turned against him. (v. 9) Here I have Amasa in mind – David’s nephew, who deserted him and became Absalom’s chief general. David had even called him “my bone and my flesh” (see II Samuel 19), so his desertion must have been painful for David. The Psalms are divided into five books, possibly mirroring the Pentateuch. Today’s Psalm ends Book I. Verse 13 is thus a concluding doxology for the Book, less so for the Psalm.

Psalm 40:9-17

Today’s reading has a mix of themes – praise and thanksgiving in verses 9-11 and a lament in verses 12-17. It’s interesting that David speaks to the larger assembly of his own proclamation of God’s love and mercy to him. In so doing he mentions a number of the Lord’s attributes in those early verses: deliverance, righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, love, and mercy. Jesus later gave us His own “Great Commission” in Matthew 28:19-20. Again, David was ahead of his time.

When he gets to the laments he mentions both internal and external struggles that trouble him. But again he closes with praise and thanksgiving. I was touched by verse 17a: As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. Some translations have “afflicted” in that pairing of poor and needy. But whatever the translation, David is confident of the Lord’s universal love. As the Marine Corps motto says, “No one left behind…”!

Psalm 40:1-8

In contrast to the many laments we have read this past month, in today’s reading we see David thanking and praising the Lord for deliverance from past difficulties, although we have no idea of the nature of those difficulties. The first three verses are direct, more personal thanksgivings. Then David goes on to offer encouragement to his fellow Israelites by reflecting on their corporate faith, all the while continuing to give praise to God for … Your wondrous deeds and Your thoughts toward us… These verses are so very different from what we have been reading!

Then we get to verses 6-8. My Study Bibles agree on confusion as to these verses. David is rejecting sacrifices and offerings (quoted in Hebrews 10:5-7), instead preferring obedience: I delight to do Your will… (v. 8b). Note – this is the same David who entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread (see I Samuel 21:1-6) in direct disobedience to the Law. (See Jesus’ comments on this incident in Mark 2:25-26.) So David, in agreeing with Jesus’ words a thousand years later was well ahead of his time!

Psalm 39

I’m not sure what to make of this Psalm. It has all the elements of a lament, but in describing his situation it almost seems like David’s “enemy” is God Himself (see verses 9b-11), not unlike Job’s friends seeing Job’s illness as God’s punishment for Job’s sin.

Most prominent in this Psalm is David’s reflecting on some “end of life” questions (vv.4-6, 12b, 13b). But even with him mourning his situation and his end-of-life questioning David remains faithful: And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. Deliver me from all my transgressions. (vv. 7-8a). David has hope (faith) and confession as his main tools against any adversity he faces. As with other Psalms, we could well follow his example.