Day #137

Sermon - Audio
Pslam 3-4, 12-13, 28, 55 - Audio
Pslam 3-4, 12-13, 28, 55 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Psalm 3

How many are my foes: a lament [ Psalm 3 ]. This is the first appearance of one of the two most numerous categories in the Psalter, namely, the *lament or complaint. Psalm 3 is a simplified version of the form: definition of the crisis (vv. 1–2); statement of confidence in God (vv. 3–6); petition to God for help (v. 7); concluding praise of God (v. 8).

*We are told in the beginning that this is a "Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son." We can see this story in 2 Samuel 15:13. However, the Psalm doesn't seem directed just at Absalom, but to all you had abandoned David, and have turned against God.

2 - "Salvation here, as generally in the OT, refers to both physical and spiritual deliverance from danger. The fact that they are saying this of his soul indicates that the enemies are taunting him: his sins are so bad, they imply, that God cannot save him." -ESVSB-

2 - "Selah" - it may mean "lift up" and is most likely a music term.

3 - The line uses several metaphors—“shield” for God’s protection (Gn 15:1), “glory” for the evidence of His blessing of kingship (Ps 34:7; 91:11), and “lifts up my head” for the restoration to the throne. -ASB-

4 - "aloud" - As Charles Spurgeon says: “Surely, silent prayers are heard. Yes, but good men often find that, even in secret, they pray better aloud than they do when they utter no vocal sound.”

5-6 - Brings thoughts of Romans 8:31 - "If God is for us, who can be against us?" If God is active in calling and drawing us to Himself, who then, can be against us?!

7 - Arise, O LORD: This recalled the words of Numbers 10:35, where Moses used this phrase as the children of Israel broke camp in the wilderness. It was a military phrase, calling on God to go forth to both defend Israel and lead them to victory.

Psalm 4

Lament in a time of crisis [ Psalm 4 ]. The point of unity of this disjointed poem is that throughout the poem the speaker is responding to a crisis, perhaps slander. The “big idea” is how to cope with people who attack or doubt the faith. The units are as follows: call to God for help (v. 1); retort (in the form of *apostrophe) to evil people who abuse the psalmist with their slander (vv. 2–3); exhortation to right conduct, addressed to those who are misbehaving, or possibly to the speaker himself (vv. 4–5); a lament that the crisis described earlier is leading observers to doubt the faith (v. 6); assertion of the speaker’s joy in God (vv. 7–8).

Some call Psalm 4 an "evening prayer for peace."

1 - notice the exclamation point in the first and second line. When we read these, read them as if David is crying out in a loud voice to heaven.

3 - "godly" = One who is loyal to the covenant obligations in his relationships both with men and with God, and in His service to God. -ZBC-

4 - Being "Angry" in and of itself is not a sin, it's how we handle our anger that makes it a sin or not. We see Jesus get angry, we see David get angry, and we God get angry time and time again. We should be angry over things that happen in our world as well. This anger should lead us to change our lives and impact the creation around us in a positive manner.

7 - "You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." The word "joy" is not focused on materialistic prosperity in itself, but is found in one finding completeness in God in all circumstances. This is how James can say "count it joy my brothers when we encounter trials of many kinds."

Psalm 12

On every side the wicked prowl: plea for protection from a godless society [ Psalm 12 ]. The theme of this lament psalm is announced in verse 7: God will guard believers as they live in a godless society. The variations on that theme are as follows: portrait of a godless society (vv. 1–2); a wish for God to act in judgment against such a society (vv. 3–4); God’s reliable promise to act on behalf of the oppressed (vv. 5–6); assertion of the unifying theme that God will guard his own as they live in a wicked society (vv. 7–8).

5 - The figurative expression “I will now rise up” refers to God beginning to act on behalf of the weak and the needy. The Lord will protect the victims of the arrogant and deceitful words of the wicked. For God to “rise up” (Hb qum) was an expression used whenever the ark of the covenant set out in the wilderness (Nm 10:35); it conveyed the image of the Lord’s leadership and His defeat of the enemies of His people. David’s words here bring this picture to mind (Ps 68:1).

Q. God is clearly concerned for the weak, needy, for the righteous who cry out against injustice and the poor. Are we?

6 - “What a contrast between the vain words of man, and the pure words of Jehovah. Man’s words are yea and nay, but the Lord’s promises are yea and amen.” -Spurgeon-

Psalm 13

Forget me not: prayer for deliverance [ Psalm 13 ]. The genre of Psalm 13 is the prayer for rescue. Everything in the poem relates to that: a questioning of God built around the motif of “how long” the speaker’s crisis will endure (vv. 1–2); a petition to God to rescue the speaker from his enemies (vv. 3–4); statement of confidence in God (v. 5a); vow to praise God (vv. 5b–6).

1-2 - One has to love the fact that David was willing to admit his frustration with God's answering. I think most of us have cried out these two verses before in one way or another. The early church must have prayed this time and time again in their years of heavy physical and social persecution. If we read 1 Peter, which is a letter to God's afflicted scattered about in the early church, we can see some of these things being approached by Peter.

4 - David “reminds” the Lord of the reason why He should respond to the king’s plea for help: If deliverance did not come, the enemy would gloat over his defeat. -ASB-

Psalm 28

To you, O Lord, I call [ Psalm 28 ]. The standard motifs of the lament psalm appear as follows: introductory call to God (vv. 1–2); petition for deliverance (v. 3); the “complaint” or definition of the crisis (vv. 3–5); statement of confidence in God, combined with praise of God for answered prayer (vv. 6–8); concluding petition (v. 9). Often psalms that have been individual and personal in focus turn to a communal focus at the end; the concluding verse here is an example. (Earlier psalms in this pattern include 3, 5, 14, and 25.)

3-5 - Do Not Drag Me Off with the Wicked. The psalms generally recognize that God will indeed hold the wicked (i.e., those who defy the Lord) accountable for their deeds. The pious wish to see God’s justice vindicated, when those who defy his rule receive their due, and they do not want to suffer when the judgment falls (cf. 2 Thess. 1:9–10). The wicked here are not simply people who commit sins (even the faithful do that, cf. Ps. 32:6), but those who oppose God and his people with deceit and treachery (evil is in their hearts). ESVSB

Psalm 55

A lament of someone betrayed [ Psalm 55 ]. Using the standard motifs of the lament psalm, the speaker in this poem responds to the specific crisis of betrayal by a friend. The sequence is as follows: introductory cry to God to hear (vv. 1–3a); description of the crisis (vv. 3b–8); brief petition to God to help (v. 9); further description of the oppressive situation that requires a solution (vv. 10–14); brief petition for redress (v. 15); statement of confidence in God (vv. 16–19); brief return to the treason under which the speaker chafes (vv. 20–21); statement of confidence in God (vv. 22–23).

*There are many, many, thoughts on what this Psalm connects to (David with Absalom, Saul & David, and even a foreshadowing of the treachery of Judas against Jesus). We really aren't sure.

4-8 - I Am Desperate. This section describes more fully the earnestness of the singer: in anguish, terrors of death, fear, trembling, and horror. If he could fly (the dove is probably a symbol of both innocence and swiftness), he would take refuge in the wilderness (away from the raging in the city).

5 - The psalmist declares that God will annihilate his enemies. His words are in line with divine justice; God destroys the wicked by causing their evil to recoil on them. -ASB-

13-16 - As in Job, the great tragedy is that friends have turned into enemies.

*The Psalmist states that he wishes to run away from his problems, but instead, he will stop and turn to God for deliverance.