Psalm 37:23-34

Just a day or two ago I commented that almost every verse in that day’s reading had to do with the wicked. Today is just the opposite – it’s all about the righteous. The word “wicked” only appears three times, in Psalm 37:28,32,34, and even there two of those occasions are half-verses. But today is about the righteous.

Verse 23 is intriguing when we look at the ESV translation with no deific capitalizations: The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way… Neither pronoun is capitalized in the ESV, but we know from the context that at least one of them should be. The NASB and the NKJV have “He” capitalized: The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. Because they have “He” capitalized, we know that this is a proper translation. Surprisingly, however, when I read this verse in the ESV, I imagined the “his” to be capitalized: The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in His way… This incorrect translation results in another comment that I made a few days ago, that we are more fully blessed when we follow the path that the Lord has laid out for us. So even reading the non-capitalized ESV incorrectly leaves us with a very positive statement. Fun!

Psalm 37:12-22

We’ve been through a lot of “the ways of the wicked” already in Job. This “wisdom” Psalm continues that theme, reflecting over and over that the wicked are doomed. Although they enjoy their riches for a time, in the end they will fall on their own sword (v. 15). John did a great job when we were reading Job in pointing out that back then, through time, and even now we don’t always see the wicked failing. In an eternal sense we know that truth – they’ll get theirs! But in this world evil often sees its spoils passed on from generation to generation.

One of my Study Bibles pointed out something that I had not recognized in Psalm 37 or even back in Job. Even though the wicked will get their just deserves, it never says that God will be the one bringing that about. By contrast, we see the Lord actively working for the benefit of the righteous. Verse 17 says this explicitly: For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous. The Lord intercedes for the righteous, but the outcome for the wicked is simply a passive statement that it will happen. Interesting.

My favorite verse for today: Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. (v. 16)

Psalm 37:1-11

Three Study Bibles tell me that Psalm 37 is neither a praise Psalm nor a lament, but rather falls under the category of wisdom literature, like we will see later in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. In addition one of these Study Bibles noted that the heart of the Psalm is the first 11 verses (today’s reading) and that the rest of the Psalm simply expands on these verses.

So today (and for the rest of this Psalm) the contrast between the wicked and the righteous – shades of Job!! I have often heard verse 4 quoted: Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. I think the key to understanding this verse is in knowing what is meant by “the desires of your heart”. It’s not about what we “want”, that we get everything we want. Often what we want is not what we need or what God wants for us. Occasionally when I hear this verse quoted I wonder if the speaker is following one of those “health and wealth” Bible preachers. God built us, each in His own fashion, and He is the one who built our hearts and gave us His desires for us, meant to be “the desires of our heart”. What we “want”, ideally, should be what God wants for us. Very simply, always, everywhere, everything, “Your will be done”.

Psalm 36

I often get distracted in my prayer time and in my Bible reading. It happened today with verse 7b: The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. I “woke up” a few verses later with the reality that I had been daydreaming. But my daydream topic was our Avanza kids. I was seeing a few of them in church on Sunday mornings, some sitting up front and some serving as cross and candle bearers. Then I went back to verse 7 and read the next few verses substituting our Avanza kids for “children of mankind”. The reality is quite strong: The Avanza kids take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights. These kids come to our church, and it is a place of refuge, of safety, of love. They get a snack, feasting as it were on what we offer. Then they “drink” from the music, the Bible story, and the godly examples of the tutors whom God has placed before them. And this entire process begins with verse 7a: How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! It is His love that brings these kids to His house and His love that has allowed us to partake with them in sharing His love for them. Glory!

Today, the third lament from Psalm 35. What stood out for me today was the amount of coverage David gave to his situation (to his enemies). It’s only the last two verses that speak of his friends or his thanksgiving, confidence, praise to the Lord.

In all of David’s speaking of his enemies, another item stood out for me, about those who were wrongfully my foes and … who hate me without cause. (v. 19) These comments hearken back to an earlier comment in the Psalm, Malicious (or lying) witnesses rise up… (v. 11a) In our world today we see people on one political side or the other who blast the opposite party due to their ideology or to their allegiance to a powerful leader. Even fans at sporting events can get violent if all is not going well for their favorite team. David’s comments ring quite well – back then and today. Surprisingly, Jesus quotes this Psalm and these thoughts at the Last Supper: But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: “They hated me without a cause.” (John 15:25) He knew His Scripture!

Psalm 35:11-18

Is it my imagination? I somehow recall Debbie commenting on the “friends” for whom David grieved while they were ill, only to see them turn on him when he was “stumbling” (vv. 13-16). But if not Debbie, it’s still worth a comment. It’s hard to imagine a situation such as the one that David faced, when dear, trusted friends do an about-face like he describes. But we read about David’s son Absalom turning the hearts of the people his way, then revolting against his father’s leadership (see II Samuel 15, ff.). It could be this situation that David is describing, referring to his former friends who now turned against him and sided with Absalom. Truly David has a second lament in this chapter with its three sub-laments.

The writer of Hebrew’s has a small section where he seems to speak of a similar situation: For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6) Can it be true that there is no forgiveness for a believer who has turned away from the Lord? That’s hard to imagine, but it’s there in Scripture and we hold to these truths. Still, these are a difficult few verses.

Incidentally, we see the exact opposite of David’s lament in our political realm, especially in the primaries when people in one party turn against each other in their attempt to become the nominee, then embrace and become solid supporters of the primary winner in the general election. The exact opposite…!

Psalm 35:1-10

In putting these readings schedules together I’m never quite sure how to break up these longer Psalms. I originally scheduled verses 1-16 for today. The better breaks for Psalm 35 are 1-10, 11-18, and 19-28. One of my Study Bibles suggests that each of these sections is its own self-contained lament. You may recall the elements of a lament: a cry for help; the psalmist’s situation; expression of confidence; protestation of innocence or prayer for vindication; and grateful recognition for God’s help. We can see these in each of those three sections of Psalm 35. So today, a focus on 1-10.

Each of those lament items is in these ten verses. I’ll let you find them yourselves. I have just a few other comments. Three times in today’s verses we find the same word/phrases repeated – their “net” in verses 7 and 8, “the angel of the Lord” in verses 5 and 6, and “the poor” in verse 10. I see “the net” in David’s time as landmines and roadside IEDs in today’s world. Their “net” was designed to capture; today’s mines are designed to kill. Unfortunately that killing often results in civilian lives lost, especially children. The UN adopted a “Mine Ban Treaty” in 1997. Countries failing to sign this Treaty include China, Egypt, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and, perhaps surprisingly, the United States.

The ”angel of the Lord” appears today fighting against David’s enemies. We also see this “angel of the Lord” undertaking any number of other activities. An Internet search found that phrase in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Judges, Zechariah, Matthew, Luke, and Acts. A busy “angel of the Lord”…

Finally, “the poor”, also translated as the afflicted or the needy. It seems to me that God has a special place in His heart for the poor, the afflicted, the needy. We need to follow His lead.

Psalm 34:11-22

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. (v. 13) These words are true enough. James confirms them graphically in his epistle: If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (James 3:3-10)

So yes, true enough. But what I was considering, instead, was my mind and my thoughts instead of my tongue and my lips. If I substitute thought and mind in either today’s verse or James 3, I pretty much come up with the same conclusions. The following verses from James are especially relevant: With our mind and our thoughts we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mind come blessing and cursing. (James 3:9-10) I may not be actively cursing people, but I am critical and judgmental all too often. God gave us minds to bless Him and to do good. We need (I need!) to Keep our minds from evil and our thoughts from speaking deceit.

Psalm 34:1-10

We’ve had so many laments; finally today we get a Psalm that is full of praise! In fact, the first four verses make up a worship song familiar to many of us; it’s hard to read those words without singing them!

So many of today’s verses are straightforward. However, I fear that the second half of verse 10 can easily be misunderstood: The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. It’s easy to think that “no good thing” reflects things that we want, that we somehow feel that the Lord would desire for us. But we don’t know His mind or why He does what He does. Instead of asking for that “good thing” we need always to be seeking His will for whatever “good thing” He has in mind for us. There is a second caveat for verse 10b: No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11b) For us to attain to whatever is that “good thing” that He has in mind for us, we truly need to be seeking Him. But I pray for us that we can attain to His “good things”!