Psalm 66:1-20

... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

Psalm 66:1-20[1]

To the chief Musician, A Song [or] Psalm.

Make a joyful noise to God, all lands.  Sing forth the honor of His name.  Make His praise glorious.  Say to God,

“How terrifying [are] Your works!  Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.  All the earth shall worship You, and shall sing to You.  They shall sing [to] Your name.”  Consider.

Come and see the works of God.  [He is] terrifying [in His] doing to the children of men.  He turned the sea[2] dry.  They went through the flood[3] on foot.  There we rejoiced in Him.  He rules by His power forever.  His eyes behold the nations.  Let not the rebellious exalt themselves.  Consider.

Bless our God, you people.  Make the voice of His praise heard.  Who holds our soul in life, and lets not our feet be moved: for You, O God, have proved us.  You have tried us, as silver is tried.[4]  You brought us to the net.  You laid affliction on our loins.  You have caused men to ride over our heads.  We went through fire and through water.  But You brought us out to a wealthy [place].

I will go to Your house with burnt offerings.  I will pay my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth has spoken, when I was in trouble.  I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams.  I will offer bulls with goats.  Consider.

Come [and] hear, all who fear God.  I will declare what He has done for my soul.  I cried to Him with my mouth.  He was extolled with my tongue.  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear [me].  [But] God has certainly heard [me].  He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed [be] God, Who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.[5]

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[1] The argument of this unknown psalmist invites the entire Universe to worship God.  He shows that this will certainly take place, because God’s power is so clearly displayed.  This is not an assertion that might makes right; but rather that righteousness displayed in power does bring justice and righteousness to reality.

For evidence of God’s righteous power, we need look no farther than the historic and miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan River.  While modern man in futility searches to deny the facts of this history, the Israelites built their whole nation around it.  Moreover, the psalmist expects his words to be universally received and readily believed by all.  The psalmist’s whole discussion is laid on the firm foundation of these two historic facts.

While it is impossible to be certain of the reference in this paragraph, because of its location in the Psalter (it is a good fit with the Psalms for Korah), and because of the Psalm’s flow of logic; it seems likely that this wraps up all the horror of Assyria’s conquest of the Northern Kingdom, together with Babylon’s conquest of the Southern Kingdom, and looks at both from the perspective of the return around 517 BC.

In the Israelite worldview, having returned to Jerusalem, the primary goal in mind is to resume the bloody sacrifices with their attendant prayers of gratitude and praise.

This next paragraph notes that prayer must come from a pure heart.  This accords very well with the national lessons of repentance learned in Babylon.  It would appear that after 517 pagan idolatry was gone from Judaism.  Since God has heard the psalmist’s prayer, he must be purified.  This is not to say that the psalmist has ceased from sin bodily, nor must we become bodily pure to pray and be used by God.  Rather the purity is that of a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).  God does not look for perfection from His people, but for fear and love.  It is the act of “regard[ing] iniquity in [the] heart” that defiles, rather than accidental stumbling in sin.  The person who “regard[s] iniquity in [the] heart” makes sinning the purpose of life.  The person who does not “regard iniquity in [the] heart” regrets that he has stumbled even once.  This is true holiness; it is not perfect purity.

For all these things, God is indeed blessed.  Chiefest of all God’s displays of righteous power is His mercy for sinners.

[2] The Red or Reed Sea, so named because the reeds are red in color.  The reference is to the crossing with Moses.

[3] The flood stage of the Jordan River.  The reference is to the crossing with Joshua.

[4] Very possibly, a reference to the Babylonian captivity.

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These meditations are not controlled by Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

Psalm 101:1-8

... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Psalm 101:1-8[1]

A Psalm of David.

I will sing of mercy and judgment.  I will sing to You, Lord.  I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way.  When will You come to me?  I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.  I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.  I hate the work of those who turn aside: [it] shall not cling to me.  A forward heart shall depart from me.  I will not know a wicked [person].  I will him cut off, who secretly slanders his neighbor.  I will not suffer him who has a high look and a proud heart.

My eyes [are] on the faithful of the land, so that they may dwell with Me.  He who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve Me.  He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house.  He who counts lies shall not tarry in my sight.

I will early destroy all the wicked of the land: so that I may cut off all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

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[1] Saul had surrounded himself with evil counselors: men like Doeg (Psalm 52), the tribe of the Ziphims or Ziphites (Psalm 54), and others.  We do not believe that the placement of Psalm 53, between Doeg and the Ziphites is accidental: for all of them were unbelievers.  Saul had done many wrong, but forgivable things.  However, when it came to the will of God concerning Amalek, he failed.  Amalek, as well as its king, Agag, is the epitome of all that evil: God cannot deliver from the evil, by tolerating evil.  This Psalm is not about the cruel and vicious slaughter of many people: it is about maintaining the holiness of God’s kingdom.  David understands this and sings his vow to hallow God’s name.

David’s vow requires all the elements of mercy, judgment, wisdom, a single hearted walk, pure eyes, without waffling or wandering, and emphatically, especially humility.  The phrase, “When will You come to me?” seems out of place, until we consider that David is incapable of achieving any of these qualities by himself.  Only as God is with him, can the name of God be truly hallowed.  David will be able to surround himself with faithful believers because God does the sorting.  Even so, David will have his Ahithophel, and Jesus will have His Judas.  The highest form of pride is secret slander.

David delights in faithful believers and vows to fill the land with them, separating them from deceivers and liars.  Is he remembering Doeg, as he sings?

David concludes his song by vowing to destroy wickedness, which is equivalent to eliminating idolatry, malice toward God, and cruelty, malice toward man.  His vow embraces an affirmation of the Decalogue.  The centerpiece of the Decalogue is the perfect Son, Who flawlessly honors both Father and mother.  David understands that he is the icon of that Son; as also are we.  In Christ, we become the perfect Son.  There is no place in Christ for any sin: sin must be blotted out.  We look for that glorious day, when we will never sin again.

Psalm 99:1-9

Salutation

... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Psalm 99:1-9[1]

The Lord reigns.  Let the people tremble.  He sits [between] the Cherubim.  Let the earth be moved.  The Lord [is] great in Zion.  He [is] high above all the people.  Let them praise Your great and terrifying name.  It [is] holy.  The king’s Strength also loves judgment.  You establish equity.  You execute judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

Exalt the Lord our God.  Worship at His footstool.  He [is] holy.

Moses and Aaron [are] among His priests.  Samuel [is] among those who call on His name.  They called on the Lord, and He answered them.  He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar.  They kept His testimonies, and the ordinance He gave them.  You answered them, O Lord our God.  You were a God that forgave them, though You took vengeance on their inventions.

Exalt the Lord our God.  Worship at His holy hill: for the Lord our God [is] holy.

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[1] This Psalm of exaltation is distinguished by its repeated chorus: something that is rather rare in Psalms.  “Exalt the Lord our God.  Worship at His footstool.  He [is] holy.”

The reasons for exaltation can be overlooked: obviously, God reigns, is great, is high, is terrifying, is holy.  Equally obvious: the people tremble, the earth moves.  Not so obvious, God “sits [between] the Cherubim.”  We read this without considering that the covering on the Ark of the Covenant is called the Mercy Seat; it is the visible representation of God’s Throne; His flaming smoking Glorious presence sits there; and the Israelites expected to direct their prayer to this visible concrete reality.  Moreover, the Ark of the Covenant is God’s sedan chair, the icon of a bigger reality (2 Kings 2:11-12; 2 Kings 13:14; Ezekiel 1; 10).  This seat is vacant from 586 BC to 33 AD, when it is suddenly reoccupied (Acts 2:30-36).  When we come to communion we receive gifts distributed from this seat, by the hands of Jesus.  It is this Presence, Jesus, Who is the king’s Strength.  The psalmist is not evaluating the merits of human virtues.

After the chorus, the second stanza is begun.  Not so obvious, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel are notable because they are the ones chosen and permitted to enter into this Presence and maintain a face-to-face conversation, which we call (extraordinary) Inspiration, and which results in the publication of that conversation that we know as the Bible.  These men were exceptional in their obedience to the requirements of this conversation.  Those who failed in this obedience were either destroyed on the spot, or excluded from the Presence.  The minor peccadilloes of these and others are called inventions, which are also destroyed.  It is an interesting fact of faith that many of the things we have built and treasure, our inventions, infractions we consider minor, monuments we consider major, are reprehensible in the sight of God, and doomed for destruction.

God is Holy.  He is separate from our inventions.  Our inventions cannot survive in His presence.  Neither can we survive in His presence if we persist in rebellion.  Obedience through grace brings access to God’s Holiness.