Category: Psalms

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The Psalm of Psalms — Beth

This is the second entry in this series on Psalm 119, which will examine each of this psalm’s stanzas. Every set of eight verses in this acrostic writing is tied to a particular letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

BETH

            “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

            “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

            “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

            “Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.

            “With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

            “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

            “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

            “I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word” (Psalm 119:9-16)

            Two monumental questions often pop up in the minds of Christians. No. 1:  How do I get right with God? No. 2:  How do I stay right with God? The psalmist gives us answers to those questions within the first three verses he has written here. Not surprisingly, both answers center on our relation to the Word of God.

            First, the writer addresses the matter of cleansing. Let’s face the fact; sin is a reality for human beings. As the psalmist will tell us further along, our souls cleave to the dust. The natural flesh craves satisfaction. We stray, and we pay. Consequences result when our choices are wrong. Therefore, God provides the way for washing. The Hebrew verb structure reveals “cleansing” as a constant need for the believer, and the expectation is that this will happen again and again. Another idea expressed here is that instances of “cleansing” vary in extension because failures are different.

            His “Word” answers our sin. The Hebrew text indicates that “word” refers to a principle uttered, and this highlights our need to hear preaching. Although it has been discounted by some, preaching remains a primary commodity in God’s economy. Bible preaching fixes people. Those who would be cleansed must hear something from the Lord, and He still speaks through pulpits. Powerful messages from men of God should be taken to heart.

            The “way” theme begun in verse 9 continues in verse 10 where the writer appeals for help from God. With the understanding that his heart has been made whole, the psalmist offers a prayer for discernment. Detours present themselves in our lives. The temptation to wander weighs on us sometimes, and we must ask the Spirit to empower us in Truth. With lives of worship, our hearts draw nearer and nearer to Him.

            The answer to question No. 2 – How do I stay right with God – comes in verse 11.  The hiding of the Word of God in the heart fortifies it for the temptations faced. In Luke 9, Jesus told the disciples to let His sayings sink deep. Those men and women were soon to face challenges to their faith as members of the early church and Christ wanted them to understand just what it would take for them to stand strong. Treasure what God teaches you. Store up the truth and allow the Spirit to develop resources for obedience within your heart.

            Knowing God’s Word keeps us from going against Him. Our sin is against God and against God alone, as David made clear with his deep cry of repentance in Psalm 51: “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight” (Psalm 51:4a). Yes, our wrongs do wrong people. We hurt others, and we have to make apologies and sometimes restitution. Ultimately, however, our sin strikes at God. It quenches the relationship He desires to have with us by creating distance that does not have to be there. We forfeit moments of joy and fellowship and it is all so unnecessary because He has given all that we need to stay right with Him.

            What we read next is praise for God and a cry for instruction. Can you see the real beginnings of wisdom? The fear of the Lord starts to come through in the psalmist’s words. “Blessed” represents an expression of awe and it is as if he is on his knees as he pens these things. Boldly standing before the throne of grace with a “whole heart,” the writer imperatively expresses himself. “Teach me” he commands the Lord, and it is a definite, specific command. It is a command in the mood of Isaiah 45:11:

“Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.”

            Knowing just what we need to be kept from sinning, we may ask God to provide that essential, personal communication for our lives. “Speak specifically, Lord, for You alone know me and You love me and You will love me until the end.” We may pray prayers such as this and believe He will answer. May we never hesitate to go right to our Source. Truth tells us to do this and to do it often.

            After this big request, the writer spends the next four verses boasting to God about himself. And why should he not boast? He is in the presence of his dearest and closest Friend. Avoid the temptation to question the measure of humility expressed in these words. This One who knows us best is never offended. He is faithful and just to forgive and He is faithful and just to show us when and where we are off. Dare to speak boldly before the Lord and leave the correction to Him.

            Pay attention to how the psalmist spreads out the aspects of his life before the Lord. He presents to God the record of his words, his joys, his considerations, his perspectives, his focus, and his memories.

            “I have not been quiet about Your works, Lord,” the writer expresses in verse 13. What he heard from God, the psalmist declared. He relays the communications exactly, accurately, and constantly. The whole counsel of God comes out of this man. He reveals “all the judgments,” all of the Lord’s processes and decisions are being put out there. He understands that where there is no vision the people perish, according to Proverbs 29:18. “Vision” makes reference to the open proclamation of truth. Without the declaration of doctrine, people die. In reading Proverbs, we see wisdom personified in many passages. She cries out to the simple, to the undiscerning. Her words, she confidently declares, are life.

            In verse 14, the writer tells the Lord to recognize the gladness with which he walks in the way. He treasures the testimonies, and he stores them in his heart. Better than all riches are the records of God’s works. Real wealth belongs to those who cherish these evidences and we see it in their smiles and laughter and joy. We also see this in their quiet persistence when things are seemingly falling apart all around them.

            Bible precepts and Bible pathways form the essence of meditation for the writer. Hearing the Word creates lines of thinking in our memory center, and these lines become easier and easier to follow. This capacity is developed with careful thought. Musing should be a primary pattern in our lives as it was in the lives of great believers such as Augustine, Luther, Spurgeon, Murray, Tozer, and Graham. These men set aside time to ponder the Scriptures, to pray, and to consider the ways of God.

            Amid today’s frenetic culture, too many believers take in heaps of amusement. We can be so quick to enter into exercises that distract us from deep thinking. The sad results are these:  fragile faith and worldly perspective. The apostle Paul instructs us to speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (see Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16). Our minds should be filled with verses and choruses and passages, so that the eyes of our hearts open toward His ways.

            Do you have a complaint? Bring it before God, which is what David says to do in Psalm 142:  “I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble” (verse 2). “To complain” is one of the meanings for the Hebrew word translated as “meditate” in this psalm. The Bible does speak against murmuring and misspeaking. People tend to talk too much and such talking brings big troubles and much confusion. However, in making our complaints known to God, we are really taking our problems to the only One who can solve them.

            The regard we have for the Word, for the preaching of it and for the reading of it, exposes our heart attitudes. Bible meditation conditions our focus and we grow in our attention to the things of God. The heart can learn to observe life with anointed eyes, which is the best definition of the word “delight.” The Hebrew term used in the original manuscript was drawn from the practice of smearing ointment on the eyes in order to gain clearer vision in the dry, Middle Eastern climate.

            The spiritual practices mentioned here serve us well. They keep the Word in its proper place of prominence in our minds and hearts. Roots go down deep and soul structures grow strong. Our capacities become well watered and do not wither because we are mindful of Truth. We think with God in the way that Moses wrote about in Deuteronomy 32:2:  

“My doctrine shall drop as the rain; my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.”

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The Psalm of Psalms

Any discussion of Psalm 119 must begin with its structure. It is a work of 22 stanzas, each containing eight thoughts corresponding to a letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Readers of the original language text will find that every line in a particular stanza begins with the Hebrew letter associated with that stanza. The form served a function and helped stir the memories of those being taught these thoughts from God. It is a remarkably poetic piece exalting His Word and its power.

Poetry is language pressed into a form for the sake of function. For creative communication, poetry represents the result of much thought and hard work. Poets are devoted and disciplined communicators. Thoughts come to the poet and he has authority over those thoughts and how they are to be expressed. The poet has a will to exercise. He carries the authority to say what he wants to say in whatever way he wants to say it. The writer of Psalm 119 decided to organize his thoughts according to a certain pattern; he had that authority from God. However, authority that is exercised sets in motion responsibility and accountability. Maintaining the pattern of communication within the psalm is now the poet’s duty. He made himself accountable and responsible. The poet is responsible to stick to the form; he has accountability to it. To depart from this accountability and to fracture the pattern creates confusion for any reader.

            The poet of Psalm 119 took on a great responsibility. He carefully crafted the words God gave him into an inspired order. He was not sloppy, nor was he deterred. He stuck to his pattern and as a result we have 176 verses suitable for our edification and equipping. Just the writer’s accountability to the form provides for us a good study of an attribution of the character of God. The Lord is immutable; He changes not. And the writer of Psalm 119 changed not his mode of communication.

Psalm 119 provides a glorious celebration of the Word of God. In these verses, we ride a momentum of inspiration. Thought builds upon thought. We sense the writer’s passion for truth. His – and our – necessity also is among the revelations here. The phrases stir in us the hunger for God’s personal, specific, and timely communication in the way that they must have stirred the poet. Something rich and fulfilling is here for us if we will allow the Holy Spirit to open the words to us.

This is the first entry in this series, which will examine each of this psalm’s stanzas.

ALEPH

            “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

            “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

            “They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

            “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

            “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

            “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

            “I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

            “I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly” (verses 1-8)

            The writer gets right to his point in the opening part of this psalm. His theme is the Word of God, and only five of the 176 verses written here are without some reference to God’s Truth. For starters, he presents us with six words – law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, and judgments. These words provide insight into the varied and specific ways God speaks to us as believers.

            “Law” makes reference to the Torah, the five books of Moses, which are considered the authoritative body of teaching for Israel and for its direction as a nation. This collection of truths is to be believed, cherished, and heeded.

            “Testimonies” represent witnesses or evidences of God’s real work in creation and in particular, on earth. These were classified as things observed such as the sea opening for Israel and then swallowing Egypt’s soldiers and chariots.

            “Precepts” are foundational premises. Such communications come to us before we need them. We receive these instructions during seasons of preparation in our lives. In driving classes, our teachers told us many things and we also read about the rules of the road. Then, we were put behind the steering wheel and asked to practice what we had learned. We turned the key and began putting precepts into practice as we moved into traffic.

            “Statutes” carry a different meaning. They are instructions that are highly personal. The Hebrew phrasing explains that statutes are prescriptive; that is, as with a medical prescription, these words deal with something close to us. Each of us develops convictions through hearing and reading the Word of God. God inscribes right words into our hearts and we build content for character.

            “Commandments” form the code of conduct for our relationships with God and with others. These primarily relate to the covenants the Lord established with His people. The picture is of a superior giving a verbal communication to a subordinate. God’s commands are unique. They require an inner commitment, not mere superficial obedience.

            “Judgments” represents a category of truth related to God’s decrees. A forensic, judicial element is implied. God told Adam that the wages of sin would be death. The first man was given one regulation and he did not keep it. The Lord made the decree. God meant what He said. The forensic evidence of Adam and Eve’s violation provoked the consequence of death. Something innocent had to die to pay the penalty required according to righteousness. In the Old Testament, innocent animals were offered and their shed blood spoke in answer to the sinner’s debt. Once and for all, judgment was accomplished at Calvary when the perfect man, Jesus Christ, became sin for us.

            The Cross represents the finished work of judgment. Jesus paid the debt He did not owe for us who owed debts we could never pay. This thought comes through right here in verse 1 of Psalm 119: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” This sentence could be worded this way:  Straight are those who are made complete, whole, and entire in accord with the truth they hold and the path that they have been placed into.

            In the same way that Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount, the writer of Psalm 119 defines the “blessed” in his opening sentences. With these two statements, the psalmist addresses the two aspects of sanctification – the permanent, positional and the present, experiential. Verse 1 declares that ‘blessed” or “straight” are those who are undefiled – made complete in accord with truth and fact. The finished work fact of Christ’s death at Calvary makes us complete and therefore undefiled, for He has imputed to us His righteousness. God robes us with righteousness because Justice has been fully satisfied; the sin penalty of humanity was fully paid in the offering of the Lamb of God. He “puts” His righteousness on us once and for all. We became hid with Christ in God at the moment of our salvation. Daily, however, the Lord “imparts” His righteousness to us. He gives us power to live moment by moment as we receive the filling of His Holy Spirit. His power is “parted” to us as we choose to rely on Him and His leading in Spirit and in Truth.

            According to Psalm119:2, a right walk with God involves keeping His testimonies and seeking Him with a whole heart. The instruction here is to guard the memories of things God does. Hold those things close, allow them to provide counsel, see them as precious. The Hebrew verb for “seek” implies that believers should possess a continuous element of pursuit for the face of God. “Resort” might be the best word to think of here. This word carries with it the idea of going somewhere with a restful purpose. Those who rest in Christ accomplish things without striving.

            Rest diminishes my predilection to live for self in the efforts of the flesh. Iniquity’s power is short-circuited somewhat. That nature to sin is still with me and always shall be. However, my heart is whole. Its needs are being met as I hold to the Word and walk in God’s ways.

            The forceful language of verses 4 and 5 include two instances of “keep” — shamar in the Hebrew. This word was used to describe hedging a garden with thorns in order to protect the planting from wild foragers. What are we to hedge? The precepts and statutes God communicates to us.

            Think of the word shamar and picture Christ upon the Cross with His crown of thorns. Terrible beatings staggered Jesus, and He was weak from the bleeding that began during His prayers in Gethsemane. Even the Roman soldiers comprehended this and so they pressed Simon the Cyrenian to help Christ get His Cross up the hill of Golgotha. Yet, on the Cross, Christ spoke from Psalm 22. He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” and His other sayings indicate His connection with the Word during these dark hours. To accomplish the final details contained in the redemptive plan, Jesus guarded His mind. The painful, thorny crown crammed on his brow demonstrates how He hedged His own thinking. Truth was His frame of reference, and the Scriptures governed His thoughts while His human emotions sensed the abandonment of the Father and the Spirit. As the Son was made all sin for all men, the Face of Absolute Holiness had to turn away and allow judgment to be rendered fully and finally before the crowd on earth and to an unseen atmosphere crowded with angelic and demonic witnesses. The Word made flesh exercised faith in the eternal Word He was and is.

            This method of thinking preserves us from being ashamed. Shame is not necessarily a bad thing, for it is something we should sense in our hearts when we have done wrong. Ashamedness develops when we allow this sense of failure to fester and deepen, leaving us with thought patterns that are confused, confounded, and disappointed. Our mind becomes surrounded with poor emotions that lie and tell us we are alone, that we have no foundation, and that we have no place in God’s plan.

            The answer for such troubles is to respect the Word of God. See what Truth has to say about failure and then put those instructions into practice. 1 John reveals that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins. Even when our natural heart whispers condemnation, God declares that He is greater than our hearts. Shame goads us; it pricks the heart, but only so that the heart shall hasten its way to the Throne of Grace for confession and restoration. May we look rightly and view properly all of the Lord’s commandments. His revealed wisdom guides us, and the divine code of conduct brings light to the darkness of our doubts and fears.

            “Learned” in verse 7 is a word derived from goad. The infinitive form of the verb implies that the goading of God in our lives is unceasing; that is, we are always learning more and also learning things all over again. This process brings understanding to us as we perceive the perfection of all His ways. Our praise then becomes straight, which is the meaning of uprightness. We worship the Lord for who He is, and selfish motives wither in the Light.

            The Aleph stanza concludes with a seeming paradox. The psalmist’s determination to guard the statutes of God collides with a plea for divine perseverance; his commitment to keep the Word is followed by a cry for help. Because “diligently” (verse 4) and “utterly” (verse 8) are the same adverb in the Hebrew text, a connection becomes clear that zealousness for God’s precepts and statutes requires the steady sense of His presence.

            At the start of this stanza, the psalmist recognizes the objective reality of his blessedness in the finished work of Christ. With his close, he prays his soul be kept and his emotions comforted in Omnipotence and he casts himself upon the Cornerstone. There is a great lesson here:  “Even when we possess a good measure of truth, the fear of the Lord remains the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7).

            Let us hold fast to our reverence of Him.

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Poems, Songs, Hymns, Complaints and Curses

Talking to God and letting Him to talk to us is what our lives are meant to be about. We just get really confused about how to do this. It seems like such a stretch for us to talk to Him.

Our perceptions of the glorious, almighty Creator intimidate us. He is too big, too high, and altogether holy. All of those ideas and concepts are wrong, wrong, wrong.

God made man in His image. That is, He designed man – and the woman who was taken from man – from the dust of the earth to think and to invent, to consider and to imagine, to speak and to listen.

The order of those last two words could be debated. It seems that we should listen first and talk later, especially if the Lord is the One doing the talking. Among the sayings of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes, we find this instruction:  “Be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools” (Ecclesiastes 5:1). This direction was addressed to someone going to the house of God.

Human nature being what it is, however, we are almost always more ready to talk. We want to get things out into the open, and we do this quite readily with our mouths.

Job and His Conversation

The Bible, being a book of reality, takes this into account. In particular, we read about how we live this way in the story of Job.

Everything was taken from Job – his flocks, his camels, and his children. After those waves of trials, afflictions struck his skin and bones and devastated the wife of his youth, the mother of his departed children. He became covered with boils. Itchy and in pain, he scraped himself with a shard of pottery. Upon seeing her love in this state, his bride, weeping I believe, implored him to curse God and die.  She just wanted him out of his misery. Job chided her for talking as a “foolish” woman, saying, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).

Beginning in Job 3, we read that Job did have a lot to say to the Lord. Through the next 35 chapters, Job and others do a lot of talking before the Lord answers Job and speaks to him.

God showed up, and Job shut up – “I lay my hand on my mouth” (see Job 40:4).

I don’t want you to make too much of that last point, however. It is much better to let the words flow to God rather than to let them over-ferment inside you. At some point, you’ll burst. Better to do it sooner rather than later.

Job made his complaints known – over and over and over. When words finally failed him, he became “more ready to hear.”

A Guide for Communication

The book of Psalms was given to us to guide our communication with God, with people, and even with the devil. At its beginning, there are two poems or songs that stand like doorposts, and direct us into the right realm of discourse with the Divine One and about divine things.

To me, Psalms 1 and 2 are like the two pillars at the entrance of Solomon’s Temple. These two pillars were given names – Boaz and Jachin. Boaz, in Hebrew, means “strength from Him is within”; Jachin’s meaning is “the Lord will establish.”

I view the Psalms as our Temple, our place of praises and meditations. These first psalms serve to prepare us for what is deeper in its pages.

Psalm 1 opens with the word “blessed” and the rest of its verses tell the secret of this blessedness. We are to ignore wicked counsel and to delight in the Law of the Lord, to meditate in it day and night. These practices will make us like a strong tree rooted near water. Such a tree bears fruit and never withers.

The instruction here is this: if you are going to talk, then talk the talk of God. Think on His decrees, commandments, testimonies, and statutes. Speak them to the atmosphere. Think some more, and then declare them again. This is the essence of meditation, and part of meditation includes complaint and cursing.

Yes, the Psalms provide words for us to say when we’re really angry. We are encouraged to speak them – not to human ears, but before the Lord of glory, who is, after all, the only One who can bear such things and the only One who remains merciful and faithful and just toward us at the same time.

Psalm 2 expresses to us the facts of life in this space and at this time. It opens with the question that is in all of our hearts: “Why do the heathen rage and the peoples imagine vain things?” (Psalm 2:1). More statements such as these are sprinkled throughout the Psalter. Psalm 13 starts with a wail about God forgetting and ignoring us in the midst of our enemies. It ends with words of joy regarding His steadfast love, His salvation, and His bountiful goodness.

The God Who Knows

We all wonder and worry sometimes about just how bad things are. Psalm 2 lets us know that God is fully aware, but is also very patient. He shall allow the course of time to proceed, always guarding those who serve Him with fear and always watching over those who kiss the Son in worship.

“Blessed are all who take refuge in Him” (Psalms 2:12).

Yes, the heathen do rage. More and more vain things are being imagined, produced, and promoted. But God has given us this book, this collection of songs and hymns and spiritual images to establish us in a holy frame of reference.

In these pages, we will find strength. Let us allow them to form our thoughts and inhabit our praises. Let us be stirred up in faith-filled imaginations and heartfelt joy.

Then, and probably only then, will we be able to listen in the right way in the filling of the Holy Spirit.