Sermon - AudioPslam 1-2, 15, 22-24, 47, & 68 - Audio
Pslam 1-2, 15, 22-24, 47, & 68 - Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment
Psalms in the master story
The master story of the Bible is a record of what God does and what people do in history. The psalms assert directly, and imply indirectly, what God does in the three arenas of nature or creation, history, and the personal lives of people. The primary actions of God that the psalms record are his acts of creation, providence, judgment, and redemption/rescue. Psalms also tells the story of what people do in history (including within that the individual poets’ testimonies to their own experiences). Additionally, many of the psalms express messianic expectations.
Theological Themes
(1) The nature of God: no book of the Bible offers a more comprehensive survey of the acts and attributes of God. (2) The nature of people: because every psalm is at some level a personal statement by a poet, Psalms is also an index to what people are like, both good and bad. (3) Nature and the physical creation: the psalms say and imply many things about the external world that God made and sustains. (4) Worship: the psalms are used in worship, and many of them talk about worship. (5) Suffering: the many lament psalms yield a theology of suffering.
Psalm 1
The blessed man: an encomium in praise of the godly person [ Psalm 1 ]. An *encomium is a poem or prose piece that praises either an abstract quality or a general character type by means of a set of established conventions and motifs. Psalm 1 praises the godly person in the standard terms of the genre, as follows: an introduction to the subject of praise (in the form of an opening *beatitude); catalog of the praiseworthy acts and qualities of the subject; the superiority motif (showing the superiority of the subject by contrasting it to its opposite); awakening of the desire to emulate the subject and thus share his destiny. Additionally Psalm 1 uses the technique of the character sketch or portrait and heightens the effect by means of a *foil (a contrast that sets off the subject).
1 - Things a righteous man does not do.
2 - Things a righteous man does do.
3 - Planted by the waters...bearing fruit. Thought - Interesting to think of the parallels between this and the Holy Spirit as discussed in the New Testament. The water is the life-source for the tree, which enables it to bear fruit in season. The Holy Spirit is our life-source that enables us to bear fruit as well (Gal 5:22-23).
6 - The way of the wicked will perish, because it's God's story and all his enemies will eventually fail.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage? The futility of conspiring against God [ Psalm 2 ]. Psalm 2 uses *rhetorical question, description, dramatized speeches, and *apostrophe to make us feel the futility of conspiracy against God. The units are as follows: the theme announced (v. 1); the spectacle of rebellion against God (vv. 2–3); God’s scornful defeat of such conspiracy (vv. 4–6); God’s decree giving his anointed power over the conspiring nations (vv. 7–9); admonition warning the conspirators (vv. 10–11); concluding benediction on those who take refuge in the God who can foil conspirators (last line).
1-3 = Nations continue to rage against God, but for seemingly no reason. They believe God to be someone who puts them in bondage, but it's really their own doing.
4 = God can laugh at man's schemes because He understands His power. If we only understood the magnitude of God we would instantly stop bothering with so many things.
7-9 = The writer to the Hebrews quotes this passage in Hebrews 1:5 as evidence of the deity of Jesus and superiority to all angels. Begotten is also an important idea, as a contrast to created. Jesus was not created; rather He created everything that was created (Colossians 1:16-17)
Inheritance = Read John 5:22
Kiss here is one of not only affection/friendship, but one of subjection.
Psalm 15
Dwelling on God’s holy hill: the ideal worshiper [ Psalm 15 ]. The format of Psalm 15 is simplicity personified: an opening question regarding who can worship God acceptably (v. 1) is followed by a portrait of the ideal worshiper (vv. 2–5). We can ponder the specific virtues that make up the portrait of the ideal worshiper.
1 - The questions in verse 1 are really the same. David is asking the question of who can dwell among God?
2-5 = This is an Old Covenant perspective on how one was justified to God. However, through Jesus it is now by faith that we are saved. However again, 1 John 1 says much of the same items must be present in a Christians life if they truly are a Christian.
Usury - Using somebody else' misfortune for your personal gain.
Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The song of the sufferer [ Psalm 22 ]. This poem is a memorable expression of the suffering soul. The poem speaks in universal terms that all people in distress can echo as expressing their feelings. But this is also a poem of “second meanings” in which many of the sentiments were preeminently true of the Messiah in the sacrificial sufferings of his passion and death (see, for example, Matt. 27:46). The sequence of feelings is as follows: opening cry of distress to God (vv. 1–2); foil—God’s deliverance of his people in the past (vv. 3–5); return to the present: the speaker’s extreme suffering and rejection (vv. 6–18); petition that God deliver the speaker (vv. 19–21a); praise of God for his deliverance (vv. 21b–31). It is evident that while the first half of the poem belongs to the genre of the lament psalm, the conventions of the praise psalm dominate the second half.
Intro = "To the choirmaster: According to the Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
3 = or "dwelling in the praises"
Matthew 27 Connections - Jesus' Crucifixion:
Matt 27:35 with 22:18 - "garments and clothes"
Matt 27:39 with 22:7 - "mock and wagging of heads"
Matt 27:43 with 22:8 - "trusts in the Lord to deliver"
Matt 27:46 with 22:1 - "My God, why has though forsaken me?"
8 = The words of this taunt were used by the enemies of Jesus at the crucifixion (Mt 27:43), in a remarkable example of spiritual blindness. They did not realize that in doing this they were fulfilling the Scriptures, as were those responsible for sending Jesus to the cross (see Ac 3:17; 13:27). ASB
12-13 = Bashan, a region in northern Transjordan famous for its fat, strong cattle, which are here predators.
15-23 = A graphic description of mortal illness. The psalmist feels his body stop working and disintegrate. He sees himself die, his body so dried up that it turns to dust. The scorners are like dogs (and lions, according to NJPS) hunting prey (cf. v. 14). They gloat at his death and are eager to take his possessions. At his lowest point, the psalmist calls on God to save him from what has just been described. -JSB-
24-31 = The psalmist’s recovery is a sign of God’s power and mercy, an example for all, and an occasion for praise. With his reintegration into the community, all Israel is invited to join him in praise.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd: the world’s greatest lyric [ Psalm 23 ]. Psalm 23 is a *pastoral poem built around the motif of the daily acts of provision that a good shepherd performs for his sheep. The sheep-shepherd relationship, in turn, is a metaphor for the providence that God extends to his followers. At the sheep-shepherd level, the sequence of provisions is as follows: the controlling metaphor and theme established (v. 1); midday resting in an oasis, after morning feeding and drinking (vv. 2–3a); guidance in safe paths (v. 3b) and protection through dangerous parts of the journey over the path (v. 4); provision of grazing (v. 5a); caring for injured sheep in the sheepfold at the end of the day (v. 5b); prediction that the sheep are always assured of returning to the sheepfold at the end of the day (v. 6). When we carry over the meanings of these provisions to the human level, we luxuriate in the comprehensiveness of God’s provision for those who follow him.
Psalm 23 may be divided into two sections. The first explores the image of God as Shepherd, guiding and caring for his sheep. This theme is reflected in the New Testament, where Jesus is seen to be the Good Shepherd of the flock (John 10:1-21). In the second section David is invited to partake in a meal - and the Lord God is the host of this extravagant banquet.
The position of this psalm is worthy of notice. It follows the twenty-second, which is peculiarly the Psalm of the Cross. There are no green pastures, no still waters on the other side of the twenty-second psalm. It is only after we have read, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" that we come to "The Lord is my Shepherd." We must by experience know the value of blood-shedding, and see the sword awakened against the Shepherd, before we shall be able truly to know the Sweetness of the good Shepherd's care. (C.Spurgeon)
Psalm 24
Lift up your heads, O gates: a psalm of worship [ Psalm 24 ]. Speculation among scholars has been extravagant about a possible occasion for this psalm. Our safest interpretive stance is to see the sentiments as universal—applicable to any occasion of public worship of God or to any grand occasion when we enter into the worship of God. The opening verse establishes a very general context for what follows: God’s supremacy in the earth that he created (vv. 1–2). Then in an abrupt shift, the poet asks who can worship such a holy God acceptably (v. 3). This is followed by an answer to the question, giving us a brief portrait of the lifestyle of the ideal worshiper (vv. 4–6). With the worship situation now firmly established, the rest of the poem pictures an actual scene of divine exaltation at a physical structure with gates by which the victor enters, either city gates or the gates of the temple (vv. 7–10). High drama pervades the question-and-answer dialogue of these latter verses. Apostrophe and personification are standard ways by which poets express strong feeling, and we have examples here in the poet’s address to the gates (vv. 7, 9) and an imaginary questioner (vv. 8, 10).
1-2 = Paul quotes Ps. 24:1 in 1 Cor. 10:26 to explain that since God owns everything, foods are included, and thus may be enjoyed without qualms. ESVSB
3-5 = The psalm incorporates the “entrance rite” found in Ps 15 into a ceremony for a procession entering the gates of the sanctuary. The pilgrim worshipers ask who may enter the sacred area to fellowship with the Lord, and the doorkeeper priests respond that only those who have done no wrong and have pure motives may enter. The ceremony was intended to remind worshipers that they needed not only a sacrifice but also a life of sincere obedience to God to enter His courts.
7-10 = God, as it were, enters the Temple. The Temple gates open for the Ark, symbolizing God’s presence, to enter. The gates “lift up their heads,” a metaphoric expression for joyously welcoming God. JSB
Psalm 47
God sits on his holy throne: a praise psalm [ Psalm 47 ]. Psalm 47 praises God as King, and the statement that he “has gone up with a shout” (v. 5) is similar to phrases in other praise psalms, requiring no speculation about annual enthronement rituals for God. The sequence is as follows: call to praise (v. 1), repeated in verses 6–7; catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts of triumph over the nations of the earth (vv. 2–5); assertions that God reigns over the nations of the earth (vv. 7–9). The underlying narrative is God’s conquest (vv. 1–5) followed by his subsequent rule (vv. 6–9).
"A Kingship Psalm" = refers to God as King
God Reigns over All Nations. God’s throne is his sanctuary in Jerusalem, from which he will extend his rule over the nations; the psalm looks forward to the time when the Gentile princes of the peoples gather for worship as the people of the God of Abraham, i.e., the people to whom the blessing of Abraham has finally come. ESVSB
Psalm 68
Exult before him [ Psalm 68 ]. After a succession of relatively brief praise psalms, Psalm 68 gives us an exalted version of the genre in the high style. The sequence is as follows: opening praise of God for his power to judge evil and bless the righteous (vv. 1–3); call to praise (v. 4); catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts (vv. 5–14); praise of God’s dwelling place in Zion, expressed in a highly figurative manner (vv. 15–16); praise of God using the motif of God as a conquering warrior and king returning from battle in triumph and accepting tribute from conquered kings (vv. 17–31); concluding section of calls to praise (vv. 32–35). The exuberance of the poem is obvious. The primary motif is God as a conquering warrior who rides triumphantly into a capital city.
1-3 = Gladness for God's victory over enemies and the ark being among them, God's presence among His people.
4 = Joy is equated, in a ritual sense, with being in God’s presence. The enemies cannot be in God’s presence. JSB
4-6 = Echos Deut. 10:18; James 1:27 (Orphans, Widows)
7 = Restores the lonely to their homes, a difficult phrase, perhaps better translated “he sets individuals (who are not part of a family) in households”; cf. Ps. 113:7–9. It is parallel to the rest of the v., which is concerned with assigning befitting living–places to prisoners and to rebellious people. JSB
10-11 = The mention of rain in the allusion provokes further description of God’s bountiful rain, by which He cares for His people. This is a major theme of the three previous psalms.
11-14 = Victory over Gentile Kings. This section describes what happens when the Almighty scatters Gentile kings on behalf of his people.
15-18 = God dwells where His ark is present.
18 - "tribute" = "gifts"
18 = Ephesians 4:8–11 uses this verse to describe how the exalted Christ (who ascended after he descended in the incarnation) distributed gifts to his people, i.e., assigned to each of the members different ways of serving the body. That Paul can apply this to Christ shows that he considered Jesus divine. The quotation in Eph. 4:8 does not quite match the Septuagint (which follows the Hb.); Paul says that “he gave gifts to men” rather than receiving gifts among men. The difference is only superficial, however: the verb “receive” (Hb. laqakh) can have the idea of “receive in order to give,” or “to fetch” (e.g., Gen. 18:4–5, where it is “bring”). Further, after a conquest, the spoils were distributed among the leader’s men. Thus the psalm focuses on the conqueror who acquired the spoils from the defeated, while Paul’s adaptation of the truth of the psalm focuses on how that conqueror distributed the spoils to his own. ESVSB
23 - sick
28-31 = The Gentiles Will Come to the True God. The defeat of the Gentile enemies (here described as fierce wild animals, an image of those who lust after tribute and who delight in war, v. 30) is a good thing, both because their designs are greedy and bloody, and because as a result they and others will come to worship the true God...The oracle of Isa. 2:1–5 foretells the Gentiles coming to worship at God’s temple “in the last days”; the NT explains that this is taking place in the time after Christ’s resurrection. ESVSB
35 = A call to remember that it is God who acts upon us. We are nothing without His power.
The master story of the Bible is a record of what God does and what people do in history. The psalms assert directly, and imply indirectly, what God does in the three arenas of nature or creation, history, and the personal lives of people. The primary actions of God that the psalms record are his acts of creation, providence, judgment, and redemption/rescue. Psalms also tells the story of what people do in history (including within that the individual poets’ testimonies to their own experiences). Additionally, many of the psalms express messianic expectations.
Theological Themes
(1) The nature of God: no book of the Bible offers a more comprehensive survey of the acts and attributes of God. (2) The nature of people: because every psalm is at some level a personal statement by a poet, Psalms is also an index to what people are like, both good and bad. (3) Nature and the physical creation: the psalms say and imply many things about the external world that God made and sustains. (4) Worship: the psalms are used in worship, and many of them talk about worship. (5) Suffering: the many lament psalms yield a theology of suffering.
Psalm 1
The blessed man: an encomium in praise of the godly person [ Psalm 1 ]. An *encomium is a poem or prose piece that praises either an abstract quality or a general character type by means of a set of established conventions and motifs. Psalm 1 praises the godly person in the standard terms of the genre, as follows: an introduction to the subject of praise (in the form of an opening *beatitude); catalog of the praiseworthy acts and qualities of the subject; the superiority motif (showing the superiority of the subject by contrasting it to its opposite); awakening of the desire to emulate the subject and thus share his destiny. Additionally Psalm 1 uses the technique of the character sketch or portrait and heightens the effect by means of a *foil (a contrast that sets off the subject).
1 - Things a righteous man does not do.
2 - Things a righteous man does do.
3 - Planted by the waters...bearing fruit. Thought - Interesting to think of the parallels between this and the Holy Spirit as discussed in the New Testament. The water is the life-source for the tree, which enables it to bear fruit in season. The Holy Spirit is our life-source that enables us to bear fruit as well (Gal 5:22-23).
6 - The way of the wicked will perish, because it's God's story and all his enemies will eventually fail.
Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage? The futility of conspiring against God [ Psalm 2 ]. Psalm 2 uses *rhetorical question, description, dramatized speeches, and *apostrophe to make us feel the futility of conspiracy against God. The units are as follows: the theme announced (v. 1); the spectacle of rebellion against God (vv. 2–3); God’s scornful defeat of such conspiracy (vv. 4–6); God’s decree giving his anointed power over the conspiring nations (vv. 7–9); admonition warning the conspirators (vv. 10–11); concluding benediction on those who take refuge in the God who can foil conspirators (last line).
1-3 = Nations continue to rage against God, but for seemingly no reason. They believe God to be someone who puts them in bondage, but it's really their own doing.
4 = God can laugh at man's schemes because He understands His power. If we only understood the magnitude of God we would instantly stop bothering with so many things.
7-9 = The writer to the Hebrews quotes this passage in Hebrews 1:5 as evidence of the deity of Jesus and superiority to all angels. Begotten is also an important idea, as a contrast to created. Jesus was not created; rather He created everything that was created (Colossians 1:16-17)
Inheritance = Read John 5:22
Kiss here is one of not only affection/friendship, but one of subjection.
Psalm 15
Dwelling on God’s holy hill: the ideal worshiper [ Psalm 15 ]. The format of Psalm 15 is simplicity personified: an opening question regarding who can worship God acceptably (v. 1) is followed by a portrait of the ideal worshiper (vv. 2–5). We can ponder the specific virtues that make up the portrait of the ideal worshiper.
1 - The questions in verse 1 are really the same. David is asking the question of who can dwell among God?
2-5 = This is an Old Covenant perspective on how one was justified to God. However, through Jesus it is now by faith that we are saved. However again, 1 John 1 says much of the same items must be present in a Christians life if they truly are a Christian.
Usury - Using somebody else' misfortune for your personal gain.
Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The song of the sufferer [ Psalm 22 ]. This poem is a memorable expression of the suffering soul. The poem speaks in universal terms that all people in distress can echo as expressing their feelings. But this is also a poem of “second meanings” in which many of the sentiments were preeminently true of the Messiah in the sacrificial sufferings of his passion and death (see, for example, Matt. 27:46). The sequence of feelings is as follows: opening cry of distress to God (vv. 1–2); foil—God’s deliverance of his people in the past (vv. 3–5); return to the present: the speaker’s extreme suffering and rejection (vv. 6–18); petition that God deliver the speaker (vv. 19–21a); praise of God for his deliverance (vv. 21b–31). It is evident that while the first half of the poem belongs to the genre of the lament psalm, the conventions of the praise psalm dominate the second half.
Intro = "To the choirmaster: According to the Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
3 = or "dwelling in the praises"
Matthew 27 Connections - Jesus' Crucifixion:
Matt 27:35 with 22:18 - "garments and clothes"
Matt 27:39 with 22:7 - "mock and wagging of heads"
Matt 27:43 with 22:8 - "trusts in the Lord to deliver"
Matt 27:46 with 22:1 - "My God, why has though forsaken me?"
8 = The words of this taunt were used by the enemies of Jesus at the crucifixion (Mt 27:43), in a remarkable example of spiritual blindness. They did not realize that in doing this they were fulfilling the Scriptures, as were those responsible for sending Jesus to the cross (see Ac 3:17; 13:27). ASB
12-13 = Bashan, a region in northern Transjordan famous for its fat, strong cattle, which are here predators.
15-23 = A graphic description of mortal illness. The psalmist feels his body stop working and disintegrate. He sees himself die, his body so dried up that it turns to dust. The scorners are like dogs (and lions, according to NJPS) hunting prey (cf. v. 14). They gloat at his death and are eager to take his possessions. At his lowest point, the psalmist calls on God to save him from what has just been described. -JSB-
24-31 = The psalmist’s recovery is a sign of God’s power and mercy, an example for all, and an occasion for praise. With his reintegration into the community, all Israel is invited to join him in praise.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd: the world’s greatest lyric [ Psalm 23 ]. Psalm 23 is a *pastoral poem built around the motif of the daily acts of provision that a good shepherd performs for his sheep. The sheep-shepherd relationship, in turn, is a metaphor for the providence that God extends to his followers. At the sheep-shepherd level, the sequence of provisions is as follows: the controlling metaphor and theme established (v. 1); midday resting in an oasis, after morning feeding and drinking (vv. 2–3a); guidance in safe paths (v. 3b) and protection through dangerous parts of the journey over the path (v. 4); provision of grazing (v. 5a); caring for injured sheep in the sheepfold at the end of the day (v. 5b); prediction that the sheep are always assured of returning to the sheepfold at the end of the day (v. 6). When we carry over the meanings of these provisions to the human level, we luxuriate in the comprehensiveness of God’s provision for those who follow him.
Psalm 23 may be divided into two sections. The first explores the image of God as Shepherd, guiding and caring for his sheep. This theme is reflected in the New Testament, where Jesus is seen to be the Good Shepherd of the flock (John 10:1-21). In the second section David is invited to partake in a meal - and the Lord God is the host of this extravagant banquet.
The position of this psalm is worthy of notice. It follows the twenty-second, which is peculiarly the Psalm of the Cross. There are no green pastures, no still waters on the other side of the twenty-second psalm. It is only after we have read, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" that we come to "The Lord is my Shepherd." We must by experience know the value of blood-shedding, and see the sword awakened against the Shepherd, before we shall be able truly to know the Sweetness of the good Shepherd's care. (C.Spurgeon)
Psalm 24
Lift up your heads, O gates: a psalm of worship [ Psalm 24 ]. Speculation among scholars has been extravagant about a possible occasion for this psalm. Our safest interpretive stance is to see the sentiments as universal—applicable to any occasion of public worship of God or to any grand occasion when we enter into the worship of God. The opening verse establishes a very general context for what follows: God’s supremacy in the earth that he created (vv. 1–2). Then in an abrupt shift, the poet asks who can worship such a holy God acceptably (v. 3). This is followed by an answer to the question, giving us a brief portrait of the lifestyle of the ideal worshiper (vv. 4–6). With the worship situation now firmly established, the rest of the poem pictures an actual scene of divine exaltation at a physical structure with gates by which the victor enters, either city gates or the gates of the temple (vv. 7–10). High drama pervades the question-and-answer dialogue of these latter verses. Apostrophe and personification are standard ways by which poets express strong feeling, and we have examples here in the poet’s address to the gates (vv. 7, 9) and an imaginary questioner (vv. 8, 10).
1-2 = Paul quotes Ps. 24:1 in 1 Cor. 10:26 to explain that since God owns everything, foods are included, and thus may be enjoyed without qualms. ESVSB
3-5 = The psalm incorporates the “entrance rite” found in Ps 15 into a ceremony for a procession entering the gates of the sanctuary. The pilgrim worshipers ask who may enter the sacred area to fellowship with the Lord, and the doorkeeper priests respond that only those who have done no wrong and have pure motives may enter. The ceremony was intended to remind worshipers that they needed not only a sacrifice but also a life of sincere obedience to God to enter His courts.
7-10 = God, as it were, enters the Temple. The Temple gates open for the Ark, symbolizing God’s presence, to enter. The gates “lift up their heads,” a metaphoric expression for joyously welcoming God. JSB
Psalm 47
God sits on his holy throne: a praise psalm [ Psalm 47 ]. Psalm 47 praises God as King, and the statement that he “has gone up with a shout” (v. 5) is similar to phrases in other praise psalms, requiring no speculation about annual enthronement rituals for God. The sequence is as follows: call to praise (v. 1), repeated in verses 6–7; catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts of triumph over the nations of the earth (vv. 2–5); assertions that God reigns over the nations of the earth (vv. 7–9). The underlying narrative is God’s conquest (vv. 1–5) followed by his subsequent rule (vv. 6–9).
"A Kingship Psalm" = refers to God as King
God Reigns over All Nations. God’s throne is his sanctuary in Jerusalem, from which he will extend his rule over the nations; the psalm looks forward to the time when the Gentile princes of the peoples gather for worship as the people of the God of Abraham, i.e., the people to whom the blessing of Abraham has finally come. ESVSB
Psalm 68
Exult before him [ Psalm 68 ]. After a succession of relatively brief praise psalms, Psalm 68 gives us an exalted version of the genre in the high style. The sequence is as follows: opening praise of God for his power to judge evil and bless the righteous (vv. 1–3); call to praise (v. 4); catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts (vv. 5–14); praise of God’s dwelling place in Zion, expressed in a highly figurative manner (vv. 15–16); praise of God using the motif of God as a conquering warrior and king returning from battle in triumph and accepting tribute from conquered kings (vv. 17–31); concluding section of calls to praise (vv. 32–35). The exuberance of the poem is obvious. The primary motif is God as a conquering warrior who rides triumphantly into a capital city.
1-3 = Gladness for God's victory over enemies and the ark being among them, God's presence among His people.
4 = Joy is equated, in a ritual sense, with being in God’s presence. The enemies cannot be in God’s presence. JSB
4-6 = Echos Deut. 10:18; James 1:27 (Orphans, Widows)
7 = Restores the lonely to their homes, a difficult phrase, perhaps better translated “he sets individuals (who are not part of a family) in households”; cf. Ps. 113:7–9. It is parallel to the rest of the v., which is concerned with assigning befitting living–places to prisoners and to rebellious people. JSB
10-11 = The mention of rain in the allusion provokes further description of God’s bountiful rain, by which He cares for His people. This is a major theme of the three previous psalms.
11-14 = Victory over Gentile Kings. This section describes what happens when the Almighty scatters Gentile kings on behalf of his people.
15-18 = God dwells where His ark is present.
18 - "tribute" = "gifts"
18 = Ephesians 4:8–11 uses this verse to describe how the exalted Christ (who ascended after he descended in the incarnation) distributed gifts to his people, i.e., assigned to each of the members different ways of serving the body. That Paul can apply this to Christ shows that he considered Jesus divine. The quotation in Eph. 4:8 does not quite match the Septuagint (which follows the Hb.); Paul says that “he gave gifts to men” rather than receiving gifts among men. The difference is only superficial, however: the verb “receive” (Hb. laqakh) can have the idea of “receive in order to give,” or “to fetch” (e.g., Gen. 18:4–5, where it is “bring”). Further, after a conquest, the spoils were distributed among the leader’s men. Thus the psalm focuses on the conqueror who acquired the spoils from the defeated, while Paul’s adaptation of the truth of the psalm focuses on how that conqueror distributed the spoils to his own. ESVSB
23 - sick
28-31 = The Gentiles Will Come to the True God. The defeat of the Gentile enemies (here described as fierce wild animals, an image of those who lust after tribute and who delight in war, v. 30) is a good thing, both because their designs are greedy and bloody, and because as a result they and others will come to worship the true God...The oracle of Isa. 2:1–5 foretells the Gentiles coming to worship at God’s temple “in the last days”; the NT explains that this is taking place in the time after Christ’s resurrection. ESVSB
35 = A call to remember that it is God who acts upon us. We are nothing without His power.
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