Day #147

Sermon - Audio
Pslam 131, 138, 139, & 143-145 - Audio
Pslam 131, 138, 139, & 143-145 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

131

Prayer of the humble soul [ Psalm 131 ]. This simple poem is mainly addressed as a prayer to God. In it, the speaker asserts his humility before God (vv. 1–2), rounding off his meditation with an apostrophe to a personified Israel to hope in the Lord forever (v. 3). The controlling image is that of a weaned infant who can rest against a mother’s breast without searching for milk.

A Psalm of Humility

1 - "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me." = As Larry would say "raising the majesty flag."

2 - just as a weaned child is content simply having his mother’s presence, so the faithful worshiper is content with God’s presence, even when there are many things he would like God to explain (such as how one’s own little story relates to the big story; see note on Psalm 111). ESVSB

Great Analogy above, read it.

3 - hope in the present and in your living.

Q. If you can't understand or comprehend something about God, what do you do? Internalize it? Have discussions around it? Become very frustrated? What's your response or reaction?

138

A song of thanksgiving [ Psalm 138 ]. The keynote of thanks is sounded in the first two verses, which establish the mode of thanksgiving in a manner parallel to the call to praise in the praise psalms. After this introduction, the motifs unfold as follows: personal narrative of deliverance (v. 3); generalized statement that all kings of the earth will give thanks to God (vv. 4–5), along with the reason for that thanks (v. 6); return to the first-person mode, as the poet narrates God’s present deliverance (v. 7) and ends by predicting God’s blessing, asserting God’s eternal love, and praying for God’s presence (v. 8).

*Theme - Prayer of thanks for God offering His constant care. It connects to the "thank-offering."

4-6 - The Lord Is High, and Looks on the Lowly. The very personal experience of God’s help is now put in perspective: the God to whom the singer had prayed is the universal Lord

Q. How do you believe that the LORD is preserving you?

6 - See Luke 1:48, & James 4:6

Verse 8 - "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands (creation, restoration, redemption)."

Philippians 1:6 - "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

139

An ode in praise of God [ Psalm 139 ]. Psalm 139 is one of the poetic triumphs of the Psalter. It is a praise psalm that exalts God’s greatness. The poem consists of four six-verse units, each governed by its own theme: God’s omniscience (vv. 1–6); God’s omnipresence (vv. 7–12); God’s omnificence (quality of being all-creating; vv. 13–18); God’s holiness, a theme elaborated with the motif of purging the wicked way (vv. 19–24). Each unit is developed with its own intricate techniques, including parallelism, repetition, word patterns and image patterns, and metaphors.

*This is one of the most popular Psalms that echo's God's greatness and our confidence and response in that. If you were at Arts Camp 2009, you should know this Psalm pretty well!

1-6 - The Lord Knows All There Is to Know about Me. Verse 1 states the theme of the whole psalm (you have searched me and known me), and vv. 2–6 develop that further as a general assertion: God knows all of my activities, all of my words, even my inmost thoughts. ESVSB

8-9 - These verses use two pairs of opposites: heaven and Sheol; the wings of the morning (i.e., the farthest east, where the sun rises) and the uttermost parts of the sea (i.e., the far end of the Mediterranean, to the west of Israel). This rhetorical device, using two polar opposites, indicates that everything in between is included. ESVSB

Q. What difference do the verses above make in our mission as God's chosen people?

14 - Listen to this Matt Redman Song if you'd like. Click ME!

15 - "Made in secret" - womb

13-16 - The mysteriously wonderful process of gestation. God saw the psalmist even in the womb JSB

19-22 - Not all people delight in this truth and the Psalmist asks for justice.

23-24 - Search Me, O God! In view of these reflections, the members of the congregation invite God to continue his work of “searching” and “knowing” their hearts. This will expose any grievous way (i.e., aspects of character that lead to grief) and will lead the faithful in the way everlasting (i.e., the way that God loves; cf. 1:6). ESVSB

143

Give ear to my pleas for mercy [ Psalm 143 ]. This is the last of the seven penitential psalms of church tradition. The only basis for that classification, though, is the first two verses, which identify the speaker’s crisis as a need for mercy (v. 1) and then ask God to withhold judgment against him (v. 2). The poem is basically a lament psalm in the conventional mode, unfolding as follows: introductory cry to God to hear the speaker’s prayer (v. 1); petition (v. 2); definition of the speaker’s crisis—attacks directed against him by enemies (vv. 3–4); statement of confidence in God (vv. 5–6); petition (vv. 7–12). The distinctive feature of the psalm is that the poet devotes half of the poem to petition. ESVLB

*This Psalm is filled with righteous requests and confidence, however there is a sign of desperation because the person (David) is not necessarily innocent.

1-2 The person praying here is aware of his own sins that would warrant God forsaking him.

2 - The term “righteous” is commonly used in the Psalms to describe either the people of God in general (e.g., 125:3) or especially the faithful within the people (e.g., 140:13). Here, however, the idea seems to be “qualified to stand in God’s presence” (cf. Rom. 4:9–11), and not even the faithful are that in themselves (cf. note on Ps. 32:6–11). Therefore the “mercy” that the singer prays for is not only relief from the immediate situation but God’s merciful acceptance of him. ESVSB

2 - Romans 3:10 - “None is righteous, no, not one"

2 - For before You no creature is in the right is an idea also expressed by Job’s friends (Job 4:17–21).

5-6 = In his darkest days, the psalmist remembers God’s past deeds. In a move that is the opposite of being dead, he stretches out his hand in prayer, seeking access to God.

8 - "in the morning" most likely means they are in darkness now as they await direction and guidance from God.

10 - Your gracious spirit, an expression for divine power, contrasted with the weakness of the psalmist JSB

12 - The translation sounds contradictory: “in Your faithful love destroy my enemies.” This is the word "hesed" meaning God’s faithfulness or loyalty to His covenant with Israel.

Ending - Asking for deliverance and guidance.

144

God who gives victory to kings: a royal psalm [ Psalm 144 ]. Because the speaker is obviously the king of a nation, this poem is a royal psalm—a king’s testimony (vv. 1–2, 9–11) and desire for himself as military leader (vv. 5–8) and for his nation of followers (vv. 12–14). The motifs unfold as follows: opening statement exalting God (v. 1); a spiritualized version of the epic motif of the arming of the hero, as David ascribes his military prowess to endowment from God (vv. 1–2); interlude in which the poet wonders why God would elevate a person in this way (v. 3), with an additional meditation on human transience (v. 4); still in the mode of war poetry, prayer that God will appear as storm god and divine warrior to rescue the speaker from the threat of foreign powers (vv. 5–8); return to the praise of God as the one who gives victory to his chosen king (vv. 9–10); return to the petitionary mode as the speaker asks God to rescue him from foreigners (v. 11); in a shift of focus, prayer for the earthly welfare of the king’s subjects (vv. 12–14); concluding beatitudes that highlight the privileged status of a nation under a God who blesses his people as the poet has just described (v. 15).

1-2 - Echos Psalm 18

2 - Remind you of a certain hymn?

3 - So many times we forget that God never had to be mindful of us. We forget that God called, claimed, and knows each one of us...He continues to care for us.

4 - 1 Peter 1:24-25, Isaiah 40:6-9

Q. Knowing that our time on earth is very brief, what is our response to this truth?

12-15 - The closing section shows the purpose of the fight, namely, to protect God’s people so that they can flourish under God’s blessing.

12-14 - The Psalmist wishes for a well-structured and productive society from a people who love and honor God.

145

Every day I will bless you [ Psalm 145 ]. This exalted praise psalm is an acrostic poem in which the successive verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in consecutive order. The motifs of praise unfold as follows: opening statement of the poet’s intention to praise God (vv. 1–3); description of how God’s praise is passed on from generation to generation among the godly (vv. 4–7); praise of God’s attributes (vv. 8–9); direct address to God, praising him for his works and power (vv. 10–13a); praise of God’s acts (vv. 13b–14); praise directed to God (vv. 15–16); catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts (vv. 17–20); the poet’s resolve to praise God forever (v. 21). ESVLB

Again...This psalm is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet

3 - "We can not comprehend the greatness of God." The more I know about God, the more I understand Him, the deeper my understanding of this truth grows.

4-7 - We still read and know the great things that God has done. We now pass on the great things that God is doing as well. The cycle hasn't ended!

4 - generational passing: various customs, rituals, such as the Passover and the truths within are passed on.

Q. How are you passing on the truths/knowledge you have of the greatness of God to the next generation? By looking at your life would someone say, that your God is great?

8-9 = God’s Goodness. These two verses fill out the idea of God’s “goodness” and “righteousness” ESVSB

8 - The creed of Exod. 34:6 (Ps. 86:5). JSB

10 - ******** The things that God has created will offer praise to Him (cf. v. 21 and Ps. 148); or, by their very existence they serve as praise of Him **********

15-17 - God cares for and will provide for all his creatures.