Day #139

Sermon - Audio
Pslam 26, 40, 58, 61-62, & 64 - Audio
Pslam 26, 40, 58, 61-62, & 64 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Psalm 26

Vindicate me, O Lord: a poet’s protestation of innocence [ Psalm 26 ]. Although the poem begins with a prayer that God vindicate or approve the speaker, thereby raising expectations of a lament psalm (vv. 1–2), the entire remainder of the poem is a self-portrait of the speaker’s innocence—a confession of his faith in God and desire to serve him. A good analytic approach is to note the specific elements that make up a godly person.

The references to worship in God's house indicate that the covenantal means of grace, with their focus on atonement and forgiveness, are in view here; and forgiveness, are in view; and thrid, singin this psalm serves to enable worshipers more and more to like and embrace the ideal of faithful covenant membership-but it does not make achieving that ideal a precondition for tru worship.

In the ESVSB it states: "The faithful are those who take the covenant to heart, and who as a general pattern of life have walked in their integrity and have trusted in the LORD without wavering. They also keep God’s steadfast love … before their eyes and walk in God’s faithfulness—i.e., they live by the grace revealed in Ex. 34:6." However, I would like to add that this does not mean that His people don't make many mistakes. God's people should display a desire to do God's will in every area of their life, but we still obviously make mistakes and further pollute God's good creation. The difference is that we, as Christians, should recognize when we are doing so, and should turn back from continuously polluting His good creation to redeeming those areas of life. We should desire and be passionate about His recreation in the world, and be active in that process!

Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the Lord: a combined praise psalm and lament [ Psalm 40 ]. Psalm 40 begins with a catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts, as in the conventional praise psalm (vv. 1–5). In a variation on the praise motif, the speaker then gives a brief narrative of his own delight in obeying God (vv. 6–8) and his testimony to God’s goodness in the congregation (vv. 9–10). This is followed by material that fits the lament psalm, as the poet combines petitions to God to deliver him with a description of enemies who threaten him (vv. 11–15). The poem ends in the general vein of the standard vow to praise God combined with a statement of confidence in God (vv. 16–17).

This is one of my personal favorite Psalms. In the midst of trials and brokenness in our lives this song points out that God has been there in the past, He is here with us now, and we can indeed have confidence in Him as we cry out against the brokenness...regardless of the outcome. This is only because someday all things will be restored back to Him, a perfect creation!

Is anyone else thinking of the U2 song? No?! Well...here it is U2 Video

The Reason for the Sacrificial System = Great take from the ESVSB = "These verses are part of the OT corrective to any who think that the sacrificial system worked automatically, apart from expressing faith, repentance, and obedience (cf. 50:8–15; 51:16–19; Prov. 14:9; Isa. 1:11–17). This is probably why Heb. 10:5–7 uses these verses (from the LXX), because its audience was tempted to abandon their specifically Jewish Christianity and revert to “ordinary” Judaism, with its sacrifices, thinking they would still be pleasing to God. They must see the sacrifices as a means of furthering God’s larger purposes, not as producing effects on their own. An open ear (Ps. 40:6) is one ready to listen to and obey God’s words."

So...The spirit of sacrifice was surrender, and the Lord was more interested in the worshiper’s obedience than the performance of ritual. Being God and man Himself, Jesus comes and shows us perfect obedience and sacrifice in a life lived for the glory of God.

11 - "As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me!" Talking with a friend the other night who is going through a terrible family situation, they stated,"God is faithful and will remain faithful regardless of what humanity does. God's faithfulness does not rest on decisions to pollute creation." Jesus has already won, and we actively work in restoring all things to God until Jesus' return. He is faithful indeed.

17 - God will not delay. Typically we think of this life as a long journey, but we must realize it is really brief and fleeting. Remember Isaiah and as Peter quoted, ""All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." Just before quoting that Peter tells us that we are born of not perishable seed, but imperishable through Jesus Christ. As hard as our trials and tribulations are, they are but a brief moment in eternity. Therefore, we make much of Him through our trials.

Psalm 58

O God, break the teeth in their mouths [ Psalm 58 ]. The general drift of this satiric psalm is to disparage the wicked and wish them ill. The poem opens with a taunt addressed directly to the powerful wicked of the earth, using the technique of apostrophe (vv. 1–2). In an extension of this satiric attack, verses 3–5 assert the utter depravity of the people addressed earlier. Taken one step further, the satiric portrait becomes a prayer to God to destroy the wicked (vv. 6–9). The antidote or satiric norm is the righteous pictured in verses 10–11.

3 - wicked; this term, when applied to an Israelite, denotes someone who does not honor God, i.e., does not fear him.

The people who do not love and fear God (Tyrants) are called out in the first 9 verses of this Psalm. There is much gruesome and blunt language used in these verses. I think too often we underestimate what we are really doing by choosing our agenda, our way, our story over the God of all creation and His story. Verse 10 and 11 is a cry for judgment against those people, and vindication for the people who live within God's story as an active participant in His ministry of recreation/redemption/restoration.

Have a conversation about these with your spouse, friends, etc:

Q. When you tell the story of your life, who's story is it?
Q. Where do you see God working through you in His story?
Q. From your answers, where do you go from here?

Psalm 61

The rock that is higher: a petitionary psalm [ Psalm 61 ]. The backbone of this poem is a string of petitions to God expressed as a prayer. The petitions are enclosed within a call to God to hear the prayer (v. 1) and a vow to praise God (v. 8). Some of the petitions are personal, while others are prayers for the king.r (v. 1) and a vow to praise God (v. 8). Some of the petitions are personal, while others are prayers for the king.

2 - Lead me to the rock that is higher than I - refuge

4 - dwell in your tent - Being in God's presence

8 - "I Will Always Sing Praises to You." In the biblical worldview, one finds the fullness of God’s presence in public worship, and the right response to God’s goodness is to sing praises and perform one’s vows in the company of God’s people. - ESVSB

Psalm 62

He only is my rock and my salvation: a lyric of trust in God [ Psalm 62 ]. In the background lie the ingredients of a lament psalm, but the expression of trust that forms a standard part of that genre is so highlighted that the remaining motifs are present only in latent form. The sequence is as follows: assertion of trust in God (vv. 1–2); description (in the mode of the lament psalm) of oppressors (vv. 3–4); trust in God restated (vv. 5–7); address to the reader to trust in God (vv. 8–10); concluding resolution in the form of a reiteration of God’s power that should logically elicit submission to him (vv. 11–12).

This Psalm comes out because people are using power and wealth to oppress God's people. They are crying out because they know that this is not the way God created things to be.

2 - The repetition of deliverance and the surrounding imagery suggest persecution by enemies.

9 - moves from being "my" to "our." Remember, we are a community gathered by the Spirit, we are not alone. Going it alone is a recipe for failure.

Psalm 64

Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint [ Psalm 64 ]. Psalm 64 is the prototypical lament psalm—the specimen in which the conventional elements stand out highlighted, as follows: introductory cry to God (v. 1a); petitions for deliverance (vv. 1b–2); definition of the crisis (vv. 3–6); statement of confidence in God (vv. 7–8); prediction that people will praise God (vv. 9–10). This sequence is elaborated with vivid poetic texture and memorable imagery.

The first half of this passage speaks of the torture and horrible things that come from a people void of the knowledge of God. However, God will defend His people, and give them sure victory, sometimes in this life, but ALWAYS in the next.