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Monday, January 20, 2014

Psalm 47:1-9

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 47:1-9[i]

To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.

Oh clap your hands, all people. Shout to God with the voice of triumph: for the Lord most high [is] terrifying. [He is] a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance for us, the Excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Consider.

God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, Sing praises. Sing praises to our King, sing praises: for God [is] the King of all the earth, Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the heathen. God sits on the throne of His holiness.

The princes of the people are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth [belong] to God, He is greatly exalted.

[i] The sons of Korah may be a chanting or choral group established after 586 BC. There are many indications among their Psalms of the Temple’s destruction. Had they written one hundred years earlier, they may well have said, He has subdued…. He has chosen, rather than “He shall.” In this Psalm, God is seen as bigger than Zion, bigger than Jerusalem; He is “most high”, “over all the earth”, reigning “over the heathen”, seated on the throne of His holiness. These things indicate that the sons of Korah have taken ownership of the Babylonian Captivity by faith and have come to understand that something far greater lies ahead.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Psalm 28:1-9

Salutation

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

Psalm 28:1-9[i]

[A Psalm] of David.

To You will I cry, O Lord my rock. Be not silent to me. Lest, You are silent to me, and I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands to Your holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief [is] in their hearts.

Give them according to their deeds, according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them after the work of their hands. Render to them their desert. Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them, and not build them up.

Blessed [be] the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord [is] my strength and my shield. My heart trusted in Him, I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song will I praise Him.

The Lord [is] their strength, He [is] the saving strength of His Christ. Save Your people, Bless Your inheritance. Feed them also, Lift them up forever.

[i] David spills out his prayer in a torrent. There was considerable temptation to group it in one paragraph: because one thought rushes onward to the next.

The “Oracle” is the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy place in the tabernacles and temples of the Israelites. It is the place where the Ark of the Covenant, the Throne of God, is kept, it is God’s special residence, the place where the Glory of God sits, from which He speaks, and where He hears and judges petitions: it was active among the Israelites for eight hundred sixty years, it is very likely the place where Samuel slept.

David is painfully aware that it is this presence of The Living God that separates him from wicked men and not his own behavior.

The entire security of David and his kingdom rests on this visible Flaming-Smoking Presence of God: nothing else. Israel is a tiny country, which could have been easily overrun by truly powerful empires, like Egypt to the south; or Syria, Assyria, and Babylonia from the north. Israel exists as a nation for eight hundred sixty years, for one, and only one reason; the Glory of God, Who calls Himself God and Jehovah, dwells among them, speaks to them, and listens to them from the Oracle. There was, at that time, one place on earth, where the Ubiquity allowed Himself to be seen and heard by men. Of course, the infinite, omnipresent God cannot live in a small manmade room: but the living picture was always there to remind the Israelites that God rules the Universe, God is the only reason that they exist, the only reason we exist. The fact that God speaks and listens, is central to this Psalm and all the Psalms. He hears our prayers and answers.

Psalm 27:1-14

Salutation

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

Psalm 27:1-14[i]

[A Psalm] of David.

The Lord [is] my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord [is] the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came on me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an army should besiege me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this I [am] confident. One [thing] have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple: for in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion. In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me. He shall set me up on a rock. Now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me. Therefore, will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Hear, Lord, [when] I cry with my voice. Have mercy also on me, and answer me. [When You said], “Seek My face.” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, will I seek.” Hide not Your face from me. Put not Your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Leave me not, nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me Your way, Lord, Lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies. Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

[I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage, He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.

[i] David understands his own suffering as he prophetically observes it through the persecution and suffering of his great Son, Jesus. We take these words for granted, but in David's day the ark of God was in exile among the Philistines. That wasn't much comfort to the Philistines: for the Glory of God that rode on the ark was a constant source of trouble. The Philistines expected a fetish, like their own idols. They did not expect to deal with the Living God, Who knocked down their idols and struck the people with diseases, so that they might repent.

David received the return of the ark with great turmoil: it cost several lives, he had no place to put it, there was no grand temple, and the tabernacle of Moses had crumbled to dust at Shiloh. With great difficulty and personal expense, David acquired the top of the mountain, Sion, and set up a temporary tent for God's Glory to reside in, with His principal piece of furniture, the ark.

David loved to walk around this ark praying. He would rather be in this tent talking with the Glory of God than be in his own house. He would just sit in silence and stare at the beauty of God's Glory and dream of the day when he would live forever in His presence. All the power of David's kingdom derived from this Glory. In this humble tent, before the ark, in the presence of God’s Glory, David loved to sing. We take these words for granted. Jesus is this Glory.

Psalm 26:1-12

Salutation

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

Psalm 26:1-12[i]

[A Psalm] of David.

Judge me, Lord: for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in the Lord. I shall not slide. Examine me, Lord, Prove me. Try my reins and my heart: for Your lovingkindness [is] before my eyes. I have walked in Your truth. I have not sat with vain persons, Nor will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; [I] will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my hands in innocence. So will I circle Your altar, Lord: so that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and count all Your wondrous works.

Lord, I have loved the dwelling of Your house, the place where Your Glory dwells. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men, in whose hands [is] mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place. In the congregations I will bless the Lord.

[i] This Psalm is reminiscent of the wise man who built upon the rock. Such righteousness is not built by works: for David begs to be examined and tried; it rests on God's lovingkindness and God's wondrous works which are found in the most holy place, the oracle, where the Shekinah Glory of God resides and speaks to king and priest. It is only because God gathers that David is not counted as unrighteous; in this grace of redemption, David finds integrity and stability, the ability to bless the LORD with the people of God. David also looks forward to the work of Christ, his Greatest Son, Who is the Shekinah Glory of God and Who will accomplish all these things for him.

Psalm 25:1-22

Salutation

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

Psalm 25:1-22

[A Psalm] of David.

To You, Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You. Let me not be ashamed, Let not my enemies triumph over me. Yes, let none that wait on You be ashamed. Let them be ashamed who transgress without cause. Show me Your ways, Lord. Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth, and teach me: for You [are] the God of my salvation. On You I wait all the day. Remember, Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses: for they [are] ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions. According to Your mercy remember me for Your goodness’ sake, Lord.

Good and upright [is] the Lord. Therefore He will teach sinners in the way. The meek will He guide in judgment. The meek will He teach His way. All the paths of the Lord [are] mercy and truth to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

For Your name’s sake, Lord, pardon my iniquity: for it [is] great.

What man [is] he who fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way [that] He shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease. His seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord [is] with those who fear Him. He will show them His covenant. My eyes [are] ever to the Lord: for He shall pluck my feet from the net.

Turn to me, and have mercy on me: for I [am] desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses. Look on my affliction and my pain. Forgive all my sins. Consider my enemies: for they are many. They hate me with cruel hatred. Keep my soul, and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed: for I put my trust in You. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me: for I wait on You.

Redeem Israel, O God, from all his troubles.

________

We are often ashamed before God because of our sin. This is a good and helpful affliction. Being ashamed before the world is a different matter: it brings with it the frustration that we have let God down; and the kingdom might be shamed or even fail because of our sin. The psalmist learns that he is not that big; but God is very great: He is also merciful and good. We learn the hard way that our sins do not rock the kingdom of God.

God, on the other hand, is good and upright; He teaches and guides sinners. This is especially true today in the gift of the Holy Ghost, Who is available as a gift to all who dwell on earth. Because of the Holy Ghost it is possible for us to keep God's covenant and testimonies: we can even ask for and expect to receive forgiveness for our sins. Moreover, we receive abundant "secret" blessings, and we are free to cry out to God for deliverance from all our afflictions.

God's forgiveness triumphs over all our shame, and affliction. Israel and The Church are redeemed "by the blood of the everlasting covenant."

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Psalm 12:1-8

Salutation

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

Psalm 12:1-8[i]

To the Chief Musician on Sheminith, A Psalm of David.

Help, Lord: for the godly man ceases. The faithful fail from among the children of men.

They speak vanity every one with his neighbor. With flattering lips [and] a double heart, they speak.

The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, [and] the tongue that speaks proud things: who have said, “With our tongue will we prevail. Our lips [are] our own. Who [is] lord over us?”

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, says the Lord. I will set [him] in safety [from him who] puffs at him. The words of the Lord [are] pure words, silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

[i] Wicked political administrations are nothing new. David contended with many of them: the Philistines, Saul, men in his own service, even a son. David sees himself as a poor man: poor, but godly and faithful. David knows that he and his throne only exist and are purified because God keeps them. Even so, our lives and successes only exist and are purified because God keeps them. The wicked are still with us.

Psalm 11:1-7

Salutation

O Heavenly King: Prayer to the Holy Ghost

Psalm 11:1-7[i]

To the Chief Musician, [A Psalm] of David.

In the Lord I put my trust. Why do you say to my soul, “Flee [as] a bird to your mountain?” for, lo, the wicked bend [their] bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, so that they may secretly shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The Lord [is] in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne [is] in heaven. His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men. The Lord tries the righteous. But the wicked and he who loves violence His soul hates. On the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest. [This shall be] the portion of their cup: for the righteous Lord loves righteousness. His countenance beholds the upright.

[i] David raises questions about wicked activity around him, threatening his life and foundations: his enemies want him to fly away. David remembers that all his foundations are in God. Here we see that David's understanding of God's throne and temple is greater than any place on earth. When David was a little boy, the sin of Israel had resulted in God’s Self-willed exile together with His throne among the Philistines: God simply got fed-up, and left the Israelites to their own corrupt devices. David lived to see God return to Jerusalem, with His throne (the Ark or the Covenant), to Zion, to live in a tent. Solomon would build the first temple. Nevertheless, David always understood that these temporal things were merely ways for the invisible God to make Himself known to the world. The presence of God in flaming-smoking Glory, riding on and speaking from the Ark, were never more than pictures of a greater reality. God is everywhere, but He is rarely audible or visible. Now we hear and see Him in Jesus, His eternal Son. Now we hear and see Him by the power of the Holy Ghost.