Day #115

Sermon - Audio
Pslam 43-45, 49, 84-85, & 87 - Audio
Pslam 43-45, 49, 84-85, & 87 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Daily Reading: 43-45, 49, 84-85, & 87

Lots of Psalms today. I'm going to keep the notes brief in order to give you more time to dive in. I recommend reading them to some “mellow” music. Put them on your own lips. Let them flow out of your own heart. I recommend reading them slowly and reflectively.

Psalm 43

Note: It is possible that this Psalm is a continuation from Psalm 42 (one of my favorites—worth reading now. It will be in the daily reading in about a month). Both Psalms share the same “refrain.” The Psalmist speaks to his own soul, telling it that despite the circumstances and how they feel-to put its hope in God.

The Psalmist shakes his fist at God in verse 2. In this case, it is not an enemy who is the problem. It is God himself. It feels as though God is absent, that he has been rejected by him. Despite the feeling, the Psalmist knows that God is not absent. In verse 5, it is almost as if the Psalmist says this to reassure himself, and states his resolve to praise God despite the circumstances...almost as if through clenched teeth.

Psalm 44

This is clearly a song meant to be said in a worship context. Notice the plural “we.” The Psalm begins with a history lesson. Israel's history is so central to their identity. It also highlights that their hope for the present/future is rooted in events of the past. They hope for a reason—it's not blind optimism. The hope we have for the future is the same (and is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ). In verse 5, They give God the credit for their success: “through you we pushed back our enemies.” And now they turn to him again in a time of trouble (their enemies are pushing them back: putting their faith in his love which does not fail (verse 26).

Paul quotes this Psalm in Romans 8.35-39 in talking about persecution for God's sake: “^Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ^As it is written:“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ^For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Psalm 45

The superscripton calls this a wedding song. Notice how this Psalm is broken into 2 distinct “verses.” 45.1-9 is addressed to the King. 45.10-16 is addressed to his bride. Verse 17 is also distinct as the poets states his resolve to honor the kings name. Notice the office of king once again carries two specific duties: warrior (swords and arrows) and judge (scepter of justice). The middle gets confusing because it sounds like he's talking to God, but as the NET bible notes: “Because the Davidic king is God’s vice-regent on earth, the psalmist addresses him as if he were God incarnate. God energizes the king for battle and accomplishes justice through him.” He is still addressing the earthly king. That being said, this Psalm can be considered messianic. In that case, the messiah (Jesus) is the one being addressed in vs 1-9 and in verse 10-16 we are his bride (the church) .

4.7 A good translation is “to love justice.” To love justice means to actively pursue it.

Psalm 49

Here we have a proverb buried among the Psalms. It talks primarily about the pointlessness of greed. “You can't take it with you,” as the saying goes. And as the Psalmist states: you can't buy eternal life. In Jesus words from Matthew 6: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Notice that the Psalmist's words are for both rich and poor.

Psalm 84

This is a popular Psalm which has found its way into contemporary praise songs. It is a Psalm of Pilgrimage as the Psalmist longs to return to the LORD's temple (as is Psalm 43). Notice the emphasis (by repetition) of God's sovereignty with the phrase “LORD Almighty.”

84.4-5: “Blessed” is not quite an accurate translation of the Hebrew here. It actually carries a closer connotation with “happy.” Or in my own words “Life is good for those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.”

84.6 According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary: “The Valley of Baca was apparently a waterless place that became a place of springs. The rains would cover the arid valley with pools of water, a vivid picture of God’s blessings on the faithful pilgrims” (and I might add of his sovereign power to water dry places)

84.7 “Strength to strength” is a unique phrase of this Psalm. The phrase emphasizes movement and simply means that the pilgrims are sustained, finding renewed energy (water, resting places) as they travel along.

84.8 This marks a new section of the Psalm. This is the prayer of the pilgrim once he reaches the temple: he begins immediately to pray for his king (the anointed one).

Psalm 85

Verse 10 is a powerful, powerful verse: “Love (hesed) and faithfulness meet together; Righteousness (justice) and peace kiss each other.” Especially profound is the relationship between justice and peace. Notice the tense. Though in verse 9, he says salvation is near, in verse 10 he switches to the present tense. Pope John Paul II elaborated on this idea in a 2002 speech responding to torrorism: “prayer for peace is not an afterthought to the work of peace. It is of the very essence of building the peace of order, justice, and freedom. To pray for peace is to open the human heart to the inroads of God's power to renew all things. With the life-giving force of his grace, God can create openings for peace where only obstacles and closures are apparent; he can strengthen and enlarge the solidarity of the human family in spite of our endless history of division and conflict. To pray for peace is to pray for justice, for a right-ordering of relations within and among nations and peoples. It is to pray for freedom, especially for the religious freedom that is a basic human and civil right of every individual. To pray for peace is to seek God's forgiveness, and to implore the courage to forgive those who have trespassed against us..No peace without justice. No Justice without forgiveness.”

Psalm 87

This Psalm is a bit strange. Basically take this from it: Jerusalem receives the blessing of God's presence.

87.2 Don't be thrown off here. “Rahab” is used as a poetic name for Egypt, which means “proud one.”