Day #133

Sermon - Audio
Pslam 65-67, 69, & 70 - Audio
Pslam 65-67, 69, & 70 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion [ Psalm 65 ]. The conventional motifs of the praise psalm unfold as follows: formal call to praise God (vv. 1–2); catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts, ranging from forgiveness of sins (v. 3) to satisfying his people as they worship him (v. 4) to acts of rescue (v. 5) to his creating the world (vv. 6–8) to acts of providence in nature now (vv. 9–13). The poem contains some of the most memorable nature imagery in the entire Psalter, with personification figuring prominently in the last two verses.

*This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, most likely for the fruitful harvest (9-13). Perhaps for Pentecost.

*The Psalm is set in the context of God's faithfulness to his covenant promises (1-8) -ESVSB-

3 - The translation reverses the clauses in this v. All mankind gives a more universal flavor to the psalm, as does v. 9, “Those who live at the ends of the earth.” Zech. 14:17 envisions survivors of all nations making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on Sukkot. -JSB-

4 - Divine forgiveness of sin is the precondition for winter rains and an abundant harvest (Deut. 11:13–17).

5-13 - You Have Shown Us Awesome Deeds. This section recounts some of the awesome deeds God has done for his people; the special focus is the work of creation (which is suited to the occasion: the Creator is the one who has blessed the harvest). The point that the OT often makes is that the Creator of heaven and earth and of all mankind is the hope of all the ends of the earth, i.e., the one true God whom all mankind should worship as their only hope. The marvel is that this universal Creator has chosen a particular people to receive his blessing and care (which itself should bring benefit to the rest of mankind: “to you all flesh shall come” in due course, v. 2). ESVSB

Psalm 66

Come and see what God has done [ Psalm 66 ]. This poem behaves true to the form of the praise psalm: formal call to praise (vv. 1–5); catalog of praiseworthy acts (vv. 6–7); brief interruption of the catalog with another call to praise (v. 8); return to the catalog of acts for which God is to be praised (vv. 9–12); linking of the praise with acts of worship (vv. 13–15); another call to praise (v. 16); personal testimony of God’s praiseworthy acts (vv. 17–19); concluding note of resolution in the form of a beatitude (v. 20). A good approach to the poem is to note the spheres in which God’s praiseworthy acts occur.

1-4 - This is not only a call to the people of Israel to worship God, but to the entire earth. It is clear that the desire is for everyone to praise Yahweh. Romans 15:11 echos this passage as well.

5-7 - Come and See How God Brought Israel out of Egypt! From all the earth the focus narrows down to one people, Israel, as the reference to the exodus (turned the sea into dry land) and the crossing of the Jordan River (passed through the river on foot) in v. 6 makes plain. At the same time, Israel exists for the very purpose of bringing God’s light to the world (Ex. 19:5–6); hence what God has done for Israel he has done for all peoples—he is awesome in his deeds (a reference to what he does for Israel) toward the children of man (i.e., for all mankind, not just Israel). -ESVSB-

10-12 - We see that God has brought trials upon His people, and still does for very similar reasons today. I think of 1 Peter 1 :6-9 explains this well: "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

13-15 - Abundant thanksgiving sacrifices in the Temple. The psalmist can now deliver the sacrifices he vowed to bring if God would rescue him from his distress (cf. Ps. 65:2). -JSB-

Psalm 67

Let the peoples praise you, O God [ Psalm 67 ]. While not following the standard form of the praise psalm, Psalm 67 nonetheless contains the right ingredients to be classified as such: a prayer that God’s blessings will be upon the speaker’s nation (vv. 1–2); ascription of praise to God, using the “let” formula five times (vv. 3–5); concluding sentiments of praise, including a mention of harvest (vv. 6–7). This poem has an international or global focus, and we might call it a missionary psalm.

1-3 - echos the "Priestly Blessing." - The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. - Numbers 6:24-26

4 - You have to love the concern for all people/nations to recognize and praise God. Even in the Psalms we see a call to cultural transformation.

7 - It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial reverence. -Easton-

Psalm 69

The Lord hears the needy [ Psalm 69 ]. The elaborate praise psalm preceding this poem is now complemented by an equally elaborate psalm of lament. It unfolds as follows: a brief introductory cry to God (v. 1); description of the speaker’s situation of distress (vv. 1–12); petitions to God to act (vv. 13–18); a return to the narrative of the things that threaten the speaker (vv. 19–21); petition that the speaker’s oppressors receive what they have inflicted on the speaker (vv. 22–28); petition (v. 29); vow to praise (vv. 30–33); brief call to praise (v. 34); statement of confidence in God (vv. 35–36).

1 - "or waters threaten my life"

3 - "I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God." I wonder how many of us have prayed this prayer to God? I know that this was a cry of my heart at one point in my life.

4 - Seemingly the Psalmist feels as if people hate him without cause.

5 - The Psalmist recognizes that God is omniscient.

6 - The Psalmist does not want to be a stumbling block to other believers

9-12 - The idea of reproach, introduced in v. 7, dominates this section. Here the song is speaking of the current condition: the reproaches that fall on the singer are not really the proper response of other godly people to his wrongs; they are instead the weapons of those who reproach God, scorning God himself, his covenant, and his faithful people. They even turn the signs of devout mourning and repentance (fasting, sackcloth) into an occasion to mock and humiliate the pious person. (Even though the singer is a penitent, he is still consumed with zeal for God’s house, i.e., is loyal to the covenant and its ordinances.) -ESVSB-

9 - "Zeal for your house has consumed me." You may remember this phrase when the disciples remember it in John 2:17 as Jesus is tossing tables around.

9 - "The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me." In Rom. 15:3, Paul applies this text to Jesus, because he saw Jesus as the ideal covenant member who was willing to suffer reproach for the sake of God’s truth. In this he is an example to the Roman Christians, for whom the issue of the weak and the strong probably included elements of shame in Roman society: Romans are known to have looked down upon those with Jewish scruples about food (the weak). The faithful Christian should be willing to suffer the scorn that some people might heap on him if he has close fellowship with the socially “unworthy”; nothing, not even social reproach, should be allowed to prevent these Christians from worshiping together. -ESVSB-

12 - The gate complex with its plaza is best known as the place where the elders of the city sat to make decisions. But everyone going into or out of the city had to pass through it, so it was also a place where drunkards would be found. Both high and low classes mixed.

15 - "Pit" = Grave or Death

17-18 = The urgent plea for an “answer” in v 14 and constitute a small unit of urgent supplication to God on the part of the speaker. The “answer me” at the beginning of 17 is matched by the “answer me quickly” at the end of 18. - WBC-

21 - Sour wine would have been very unpleasant to someone suffering from severe thirst. John 19:28–29 uses these words in connection with one of Jesus’ last words on the cross (cf. also Matt. 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36; Luke 23:36). The sour wine would have been the cheap beverage that the soldiers used to satisfy their thirst; but Jesus felt God-forsaken (Mark 15:34), and the thirst to which he was testifying must have been far more severe and deep-seated than anything this drink was meant for. -ESVSB-

NT Refs:

22–23 - In Rom. 11:9–10, Paul cites this curse to explain why his fellow Jews who reject the message of Christ have been hardened. Nevertheless, in the rest of Romans 11, he also explains why the curse is not irrevocable: it is a “partial hardening,” which will be relieved if and when they repent (Rom. 11:23–25).

25 - In Acts 1:20, this text is applied to Judas, who had taken part in destroying Jesus, the perfect embodiment of this psalm. If it is part of Peter’s speech, then he is combining it with Ps. 109:8 to show why the disciples should give up on Judas and replace him with another.

26-end - Psalmist ends by praising God.

Psalm 70

Make haste to help me: an abbreviated lament [ Psalm 70 ]. The standard ingredients of the lament psalm appear in condensed form, as follows: introductory cry to God (v. 1); petitions to God to deliver the speaker, combined with a picture of the crisis (vv. 2–3); instead of a vow to praise, a wish or prayer that God will be praised (v. 4); mingled petitions and statement of confidence in God (v. 5). As the lament psalms accumulate, it becomes obvious that the poets who composed the Psalter were frequently threatened by the vicissitudes of life. God emerges as the only reliable hope in an uncertain world.

*Many Psalms are "community" or "people" focused, this is definitely more individually centric.

1 - The Psalmist is in real trouble and needs help quickly.

3-4 - Why public shaming? = The public shaming (shame is the opposite of honor) of the psalmist’s opponents will prove God’s power to protect His faithful ones. Aha! Aha! expresses derisive joy; cf. 35:21; 40:16. -JSB-

5 - The terms “afflicted” (or “poor”) and “needy” have both economic and spiritual connotations. Economically poor people will normally be humbled by their condition and more likely to acknowledge their dependence on the Lord. In the psalms, the “poor” were often those most devoted to the Lord, who were therefore despised by the less faithful segments of the community. Similarly in the NT, Paul’s mention of “the poor” (Gl 2:10) referred to the persecuted Christians of Jerusalem, for whom he was collecting an offering (Rm 15:26; 1 Co 16:1). -ASB-