The Ultimate Starting Pitcher

Psalm 93

The LORD Reigns

 ¹ The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty;
   the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. ² Your throne is established from of old;
    you are from everlasting.

 ³ The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
   the floods have lifted up their voice;
   the floods lift up their roaring.
⁴Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
   mightier than the waves of the sea,
    the LORD on high is mighty!

 ⁵Your decrees are very trustworthy;
    holiness befits your house,
   O LORD, forevermore.

It’s playoff baseball time. Teams work all year to attain a regular season record worthy of the postseason, and then hope to make it past divisional and league championships to advance toward the ultimate goal, the World Series. For baseball fans, this best-of-seven contest has all the triumph and anguish of a long season wrapped up in just a few games. Imagine your team has made it the playoffs. They’ve won their division, and even gone on to win the pennant. Better still, they’ve won three games in the World Series. Now, the season rests on a single Game Seven.

In baseball, a team’s confidence entering game seven falls largely on their starting pitcher. Is he the ace, the one who’s been rock solid all season, the one you can count on? Or has he been shaky, maybe showing signs of fatigue or injury? A fan’s anxiety in the hours leading up to the game depends on his confidence in that pitcher.

This is a Psalm about confidence. It states, in powerful imagery and poetic tones, that God is worthy of our confidence and trust, no matter what. That ace pitcher? He could have a bad night. The tension could get to him, or he could wake up with swine flu. You can have confidence in a player, but every sports fan knows that confidence only extends so far. Know this: you can have confidence in God, and the extent of that confidence is limitless in time and space. His throne in this world is established forever (v. 1-2). His might exceeds the most profound visual image we can muster (v. 3-4), and we all know the visual image of a flood resonates profoundly in Atlanta right now. His word is holy and it can be trusted (v. 5).

You can count on God, no matter what. Ace pitchers succeed more often than they fail, but the simple fact that they sometimes fail diminishes our confidence. God never fails, ever, and what a relief it is to be on His team.

No Happy Ending

Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

 ¹O LORD, God of my salvation;
   I cry out day and night before you.
²Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry!

 ³For my soul is full of troubles,
   and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
   I am a man who has no strength,
⁵like one set loose among the dead,
   like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
   for they are cut off from your hand.
⁶You have put me in the depths of the pit,
   in the regions dark and deep.
⁷Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
   and you overwhelm me with all your waves.
                         Selah

 ⁸You have caused my companions to shun me;
   you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
 ⁹ my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
   I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the departed rise up to praise you?
                         Selah

¹¹Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
   or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹²Are your wonders known in the darkness,
   or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

 ¹³But I, O LORD, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
   Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
   I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me;
   your dreadful assaults destroy me.
¹⁷They surround me like a flood all day long;
   they close in on me together.
¹⁸You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
   my companions have become darkness.

I don’t blame you if you started into this Psalm and then just skipped it. It’s one of the hardest passages to read in the entire Bible, not because of its complexity or theology, but because of its emptiness. It’s a lament, and there are plenty of those in the Psalms, but it stands out as a lament with no happy ending. Most laments end with a renewed belief that God will make things right, or a vow of trust in God even when things look so dark, but Psalm 88? Not so much. The HCSB concludes the psalm with, “Darkness is my only friend.”

Some commentators suggest, based on verse 15, that the Psalmist has suffered from some lifelong near-fatal disease or malady. In that sense, what we read is a lifetime of pent-up, bitter complaint to God, at times mournful, angry, and even sarcastic. The only redemption in the words seems to be that the writer still acknowledges the existence of God.

Another take on these words came to be last night at Bible study, when we studied a Messianic Psalm and so clearly saw how it pointed to Jesus. I remembered my week’s studies of Psalm 88 and suddenly realized that it too, like the entire Bible, must point to Jesus. I read the Psalm again and started scribbling notes, unexpectedly overcome with grief at the suffering I put Jesus through on the cross.

Re-read these words, and imagine they’re being spoken or mournfully sung by Jesus as every minute drew him nearer to the cross. Verse 7 shows His glimpse of the wrath that sin merits. Verse 8 shows the abandonment He felt from disciples who fell asleep in Gethsemane or denied his friendship. Verse 14 foreshadows His first and only separation from God the Father and echoes the words on the cross, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

I don’t think the grief of Jesus that we see in the garden was confined to that one occasion. I think it was an undercurrent of His entire life on Earth. He knew, perhaps from day one, what His ultimate mission was, and that this mission would entail a moment’s separation from God on our behalf. He became sin, Who knew no sin. How could He not lament?

Oh, hallelujah, there is a happy ending after all! I credit my eternal salvation to that moment on the cross. But woe upon me if I fail to remember what it cost my Savior. This Psalm has now become a gem for me, one that I will not look upon often because it hurts, but one that I need to understand.

Smack Talk

Psalm 83

O God, Do Not Keep Silence

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

 ¹O God, do not keep silence;
    do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
²For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
   those who hate you have raised their heads.
³They lay crafty plans against your people;
   they consult together against your treasured ones.
⁴They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
   let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
⁵For they conspire with one accord;
   against you they make a covenant-
⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    Moab and the Hagrites,
⁷ Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
⁸ Asshur also has joined them;
   they are the strong arm of the children of Lot.
                         Selah

 ⁹Do to them as you did to Midian,
   as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
¹⁰who were destroyed at En-dor,
   who became dung for the ground.
¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
   all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
¹²who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves
   of the pastures of God.”

 ¹³O my God, make them like whirling dust,
   like chaff before the wind.
¹⁴As fire consumes the forest,
   as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
¹⁵so may you pursue them with your tempest
   and terrify them with your hurricane!
¹⁶ Fill their faces with shame,
   that they may seek your name, O LORD.
¹⁷Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
   let them perish in disgrace,
¹⁸that they may know that you alone,
    whose name is the LORD,
   are the Most High over all the earth.

In this Psalm we find Asaph in full-on imprecatory mode, listing the bad guys who have opposed Israel and calling upon God to pursue them, shame them, terrify them, and consume them. Yikes! These strong words are always a little unsettling, and they remind me that I have little context in such matters. Americans are nationalistic, sure, but I think we have no concept of the feelings that much older societies have toward their country, and we’ve surely got nothing on Israel. An old building in America is 200 years old. An old building in Israel is 2,000 years old. More importantly, we are a country of diverse cultures and religions, while the countries of the Middle East are defined by their singular culture and religion.

In fact, the words of verse 4 are shockingly relevant to the Middle East today. Consider Eugene Peterson’s rendering of the verse:

“‘Let’s wipe this nation from the face of the earth,’
      they say; ’scratch Israel’s name off the books.’”

Sound familiar? This could easily be a quote from Bin Laden. Just as I struggle with the idea that one people group could want to destroy another people group, I struggle with Psalms like this one. I’m not sure I have the context necessary to understand them.

I do know this one thing: the pleas here are not motivated by hatred, or racism, or greed. They are, strangely, motivated by God. Don’t miss verse 18. The reason for all this vitriol is that God be glorified and be recognized for who He is.

The contrarian in me comes back to say that, apparently, Bin Laden is motivated by allegiance toward his false god, so the sentiment is much the same. The fundamental difference is all about God. We must fly in the face of postmodernism and stand on the truth that our Almighty God is the Author of righteousness. I’ll allow that religious fervor and devotion can wrongly motivate someone to seek to destroy others; I must also allow that imprecatory Psalms highlight the justice of God in the presence of sin, and that His justice is a great and necessary thing. C. S. Lewis said, “The ferocious parts of the Psalms serve as a reminder that there is in the world such a thing as wickedness and that it (if not its perpetrators) is hateful to God.”

Take this Psalm today as a testament that there is absolute right and wrong, defined by God for once and for all. Also, take this Psalm as encouragement to not shy away from the difficult parts of the Bible. Meet them head on. Wrestle, contend, learn. God can handle it.

Teach Your Children Well

Psalm 78

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil of Asaph.

 ¹ Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
² I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³things that we have heard and known,
   that our fathers have told us.
⁴We will not hide them from their children,
   but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
   and the wonders that he has done.

 ⁵He established a testimony in Jacob
   and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
   to teach to their children,
⁶that the next generation might know them,
   the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
 ⁷so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
   but keep his commandments;
⁸and that they should not be like their fathers,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
   whose spirit was not faithful to God.

 ⁹The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
    turned back on the day of battle.
¹⁰They did not keep God’s covenant,
   but refused to walk according to his law.
¹¹They forgot his works
   and the wonders that he had shown them.
¹²In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
   in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
¹³He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
   and made the waters stand like a heap.
¹⁴ In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
   and all the night with a fiery light.
¹⁵He split rocks in the wilderness
   and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
¹⁶He made streams come out of the rock
   and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

 ¹⁷Yet they sinned still more against him,
    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
¹⁸They tested God in their heart
   by demanding the food they craved.
¹⁹They spoke against God, saying,
    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
²⁰ He struck the rock so that water gushed out
   and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
   or provide meat for his people?”

 ²¹Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;
    a fire was kindled against Jacob;
   his anger rose against Israel,
²²because they did not believe in God
   and did not trust his saving power.
²³Yet he commanded the skies above
   and opened the doors of heaven,
²⁴and he rained down on them manna to eat
   and gave them the grain of heaven.
²⁵Man ate of the bread of the angels;
   he sent them food in abundance.
²⁶He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
   and by his power he led out the south wind;
²⁷he rained meat on them like dust,
   winged birds like the sand of the seas;
²⁸he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
   all around their dwellings.
²⁹And they ate and were well filled,
   for he gave them what they craved.
³⁰But before they had satisfied their craving,
    while the food was still in their mouths,
³¹the anger of God rose against them,
   and he killed the strongest of them
   and laid low the young men of Israel.

 ³²In spite of all this, they still sinned;
    despite his wonders, they did not believe.
³³So he made their days vanish like a breath,
   and their years in terror.
³⁴When he killed them, they sought him;
   they repented and sought God earnestly.
³⁵They remembered that God was their rock,
   the Most High God their redeemer.
³⁶But they flattered him with their mouths;
   they lied to him with their tongues.
³⁷Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
   they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸Yet he, being compassionate,
    atoned for their iniquity
   and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
   and did not stir up all his wrath.
³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,
    a wind that passes and comes not again.
⁴⁰How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
   and grieved him in the desert!
⁴¹They tested God again and again
   and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
⁴²They did not remember his power
   or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
⁴³ when he performed his signs in Egypt
   and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
⁴⁴He turned their rivers to blood,
   so that they could not drink of their streams.
⁴⁵He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
   and frogs, which destroyed them.
⁴⁶He gave their crops to the destroying locust
   and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail
   and their sycamores with frost.
⁴⁸He gave over their cattle to the hail
   and their flocks to thunderbolts.
⁴⁹He let loose on them his burning anger,
   wrath, indignation, and distress,
   a company of destroying angels.
⁵⁰He made a path for his anger;
   he did not spare them from death,
   but gave their lives over to the plague.
⁵¹He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
   the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
⁵²Then he led out his people like sheep
   and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
⁵³ He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
   but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴And he brought them to his holy land,
    to the mountain which his right hand had won.
⁵⁵He drove out nations before them;
   he apportioned them for a possession
   and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

 ⁵⁶Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
   and did not keep his testimonies,
⁵⁷but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
   they twisted like a deceitful bow.
⁵⁸For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
   they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
⁵⁹When God heard, he was full of wrath,
   and he utterly rejected Israel.
⁶⁰He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
   the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
⁶¹and delivered his power to captivity,
   his glory to the hand of the foe.
⁶²He gave his people over to the sword
   and vented his wrath on his heritage.
⁶³ Fire devoured their young men,
   and their young women had no marriage song.
⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword,
   and their widows made no lamentation.
⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
   like a strong man shouting because of wine.
⁶⁶And he put his adversaries to rout;
   he put them to everlasting shame.

 ⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Joseph;
   he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
⁶⁸but he chose the tribe of Judah,
   Mount Zion, which he loves.
⁶⁹He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
   like the earth, which he has founded forever.
⁷⁰He chose David his servant
   and took him from the sheepfolds;
⁷¹from following the nursing ewes he brought him
   to shepherd Jacob his people,
   Israel his inheritance.
⁷²With upright heart he shepherded them
   and guided them with his skillful hand.

 

Today’s psalm of Asaph is long, but if you consider the length of the first several books of the Old Testament, it’s really a rather concise and poetic retelling of Hebrew history.

I don’t know if these words were once set to music, but I like to think they were. I’m actually imagining the sound of a banjo plucking as these stories are sung, a rich oral history of a people sometimes close to and sometimes so far from the God who so desired them. These 72 verses contain references to events or specific passages in Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, First and Second Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles! I do wonder why Leviticus didn’t rate.

It is often said that those who fail to learn from their history are doomed to repeat it. We have a lot to learn from these contrarian Israelites, and as much as we like to ridicule their whining and complaining during the Exodus, we do the same thing. This Psalm reminds us why Bible study is so important, and not just for us but also for the generations that will follow us. In fact, it spells it out in the first few verses.

Verse 4 says to teach your children well (see, it’s folk music!). Verse 5 reminds us that it’s a command. Verse 6 carries the lineage forward, suggesting that our words might impact generations yet unborn. Verses 7 and 8 tell us why:

“ …⁷so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; ⁸and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

Let’s make this contemporary. We should - no, we must - tell those who follow us about God’s word. We need to explain to them how God worked in the nations and lives we read about in these testaments. More than that, though, we must tell the next generation how God has worked in our generation. And if we model the Psalm, we need to tell them how we learned from our mistakes. We must be honest about the times we didn’t listen to Him - the times when we acted just like those whiny Israelites.

How? There are two great mechanisms: family, and church. If you have kids, by vocal and honest. Talk about your spiritual history. If you don’t, practice at church, since most churches have children to spare! Volunteer to work with kids or youth, and tell them your stories and the stories you’ve read about in the Bible.

Remember, you could be affecting generations.

Ancient Skies

Psalm 68

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

 ¹ God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
   and those who hate him shall flee before him!
²As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
    as wax melts before fire,
   so the wicked shall perish before God!
³But the righteous shall be glad;
   they shall exult before God;
   they shall be jubilant with joy!

 ⁴Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
    lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the LORD;
   exult before him!
⁵ Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
   is God in his holy habitation.
⁶God settles the solitary in a home;
   he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
   but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

 ⁷O God, when you went out before your people,
    when you marched through the wilderness,
                         Selah

⁸ the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
   before God, the One of Sinai,
   before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
   you restored your inheritance as it languished;
¹⁰your flock found a dwelling in it;
   in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

 ¹¹The Lord gives the word;
    the women who announce the news are a great host:

 ¹² “The kings of the armies-they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil-
 ¹³though you men lie among the sheepfolds-
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
   its pinions with shimmering gold.
¹⁴When the Almighty scatters kings there,
   let snow fall on Zalmon.

 ¹⁵O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
   O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
¹⁶Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
   at the mount that God desired for his abode,
   yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?
¹⁷ The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
   thousands upon thousands;
   the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
¹⁸ You ascended on high,
    leading a host of captives in your train
   and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.

 ¹⁹Blessed be the Lord,
   who daily bears us up;
   God is our salvation.
                         Selah

²⁰Our God is a God of salvation,
    and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
²¹ But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
   the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
²²The Lord said,
   ”I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, ²³that you may strike your feet in their blood,
   that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

 ²⁴Your procession is seen, O God,
   the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary-
²⁵ the singers in front, the musicians last,
   between them virgins playing tambourines:
²⁶ “Bless God in the great congregation,
   the LORD, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”
²⁷There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
   the princes of Judah in their throng,
   the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

 ²⁸ Summon your power, O God,
   the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem
   kings shall bear gifts to you.
³⁰Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
   the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
   scatter the peoples who delight in war.
³¹Nobles shall come from Egypt;
    Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

 ³² O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
   sing praises to the Lord,
                         Selah

³³to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
   behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
³⁴ Ascribe power to God,
   whose majesty is over Israel,
   and whose power is in the skies.
³⁵ Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
   the God of Israel-he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!

Did you catch that verse about God riding over the clouds of ancient skies that He alone created? Can you see it? Did you read about the noisy, rambunctious parade, with singers and tambourines, all celebrating our Victor King? Can you hear it? Did you envision the enemies of God melting away before Him like molten wax in a fire? Can you feel the heat?

This is a long Psalm, packed with praise and prayer and a healthy dose of smack-talk; it’s just long enough that we can be tempted to “skim” its contents and press on with the day ahead. In so doing, we would miss the blessings packed in these verses.

The images here are over-the-top, calling upon all of our senses. The imprecatory verses don’t just implore God to defeat His enemies, they characterize those enemies in visceral terms. The enemy of verse 30 (Egypt?) is a beast dwelling among the reeds. I imagine a stalking, stealthy alligator, waiting to crush an innocent victim in its might jaws. Instead, David calls upon God to do the crushing. I’m also struck by verse 21. I have read verses before that talk about striking the heads of God’s enemies, and I usually think in a detached sense, like the little green army men I used to play with when I was little. Here, verse 21 jars me, and now I’m thinking of a real head, with real hair, once held high in self-assurance, once slandering God’s name, the “hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways” now struck down.

If these images of the enemies are stirring, how much more so are the images of God? I will borrow from a few other translations to highlight a pair of my favorites:

Verse 4 (KJV): “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.”

The partial name of Yahweh is written out of reverence for a God too great to be characterized by name with our small human letters. This is the Hebrew name we utter when we say “Hallelujah”, “bring praise to God.” And what is this JAH doing? He’s riding upon the heavens, atop the clouds. I glance at the sky and praise Him.

The image comes back in verse 33 (NIV): “to him who rides the ancient skies above,
       who thunders with mighty voice.”

I’ve seen that cool Silver Surfer movie, and that’s about as close as my feeble mind can get to this image. Michael Gungor set the image to song with these words: “And you ride the ancient skies, You’re amazing.
Creation cries, So will I, You’re amazing. / Now we stand amazed, and now we sing the word they sang in ancient days. A single word that’s overflowing endless praise: Hallelujah.”

Father God, forgive me for glancing over Your rich words, as if there was something more worthy of my time. One day, I hope to learn what it feels like to ride upon the ancient skies. Until then, I am on the ground, looking up, struggling to comprehend Yahweh, the God worthy of praise and celebration, the God so much more powerful than any enemy who dares stand against You. I’m glad I’m on Your side. Thank You for this reminder to be awe-struck, to tremble a little bit in Your presence, to utter the only word I can muster, Hallelujah.

Thirsty?

Psalm 63

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

 ¹O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
²So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
³Because your steadfast love is better than life,
   my lips will praise you.
⁴So I will bless you as long as I live;
   in your name I will lift up my hands.

 ⁵My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
   and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
⁶when I remember you upon my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
⁷for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
⁸My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

 ⁹But those who seek to destroy my life
   shall go down into the depths of the earth;
¹⁰they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
   they shall be a portion for jackals.
¹¹But the king shall rejoice in God;
   all who swear by him shall exult,
   for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

I have to admit that this Psalm first makes me think of contemporary songs. That happens a lot in this book, but I couldn’t get through this one without singing several songs in my head. “O God, You are my God,” - that’s in a Rich Mullins song. “Your love is better than life,” - that’s in a Newsboys song. “The shadow of your wings,” - that’s in a Third Day song. You get the idea. I’m grateful for songwriters who borrow from scripture because it helps my memorization so much.

There’s a lot more to like in Psalm 63. Love is considered better than life itself. This is a lofty outlook echoed in Philippians 1:21 and Acts 20:24. Verse 4 is one of several that describe a worship posture of uplifted hands. One commentator likens this posture to one ready to receive good and perfect gifts from the Father of lights (James 1:17).

David was inspired to write these words while fleeing in the wilderness, probably either from Saul or Absalom. Verse 11 makes the Absalom scenario make more sense. The opening verse is a powerful plea for the presence of God. David exemplifies a trait that would serve all of us well: his desperation magnifies his need for God. Here’s a somewhat trite example. A nice, cold can of Coke is something many of us enjoy. For some, that enjoyment comes several times a day. However, the same can of Coke becomes so much more if we’re desperate. I remember spending 6 weeks in Europe on a study abroad trip in college. For some reason the countries we visited seemed either morally or legally prevented from manufacturing ice. All the drinks were tepid. I drink a lot during a meal, and the Cokes were crazy expensive and they came in these tiny Metric-system cans. By the time I traveled back home, I was desperate for an icy cold Coke. (Well, for me it was Mountain Dew, but you get the idea.) The same can in the fridge had new meaning and importance. I enjoyed it more. Savored it, even.

Here’s your homework for today: be desperate for God. Even if you’re not wandering in a metaphorical wilderness, long for Him. Enjoy Him like you’re encountering Him in a brand new way. Savor Him. Thirst for Him. Behold His power and glory, because His steadfast love is better than life.

A Psalm of Similes

Psalm 58

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.

 ¹Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
   Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
²No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
   your hands deal out violence on earth.

 ³The wicked are estranged from the womb;
   they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
⁴They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
   like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
⁵so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
   or of the cunning enchanter.

 ⁶O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
   tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
⁷Let them vanish like water that runs away;
   when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
⁸Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
   like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
⁹Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
   whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

 ¹⁰The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
   he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
   surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

I’m so grateful for this Psalm today, not so much because of its thematic content or its message, but because it reveals to me yet another side of our great God, and the more I can fully comprehend the facets of God, the more I can try to be like Him. So, please forgive me if I fail to address the message of the passage, though I encourage you to ponder its whole.

Instead, I’d like to consider the language. God could have told us what He desired us to know in so many different ways. He could have just imprinted His message on our brains. He could have created a bulleted list of every single principle He deems important. He could have set up a line of prophets to continue to speak His word audibly, just like in the Old Testament. Even within the context of the Bible, things could have turned out much differently. Psalm 58 contrasts evil and righteousness and calls for God to declare His righteous sovereignty through the defeat of evil. (Okay, maybe I will dwell on the theme a bit.) It could have read something like this:

•  Some people do bad things, and lead other people into violence.
• These bad people do not listen to God.
• God, judge them appropriately.
• Then godly people will be happy.

That sort of approach would still work, right? And God would be perfectly justified if He chose to present His message thusly, right? Of course! He’s God, after all. It would have certainly made the Bible a shorter, faster read! Oh, but I am so glad He instead chose to reveal a bit more of His creative side in these words. As a result, we have this beautiful Psalm of similes.

Remember learning about similes and metaphors back in school? These comparisons that can so enrich writing were not dreamed up by an English teacher, or even some Renaissance poet. They were invented by God, which means their very existence tells us a little more about Him. Look at the vivid similes in Psalm 58. Lies are the “venom of a serpent.” The unrestrained are a “deaf adder”. The wicked facing their just end are young lions having their fangs torn out. Their demise is a flowing stream. Their impotence versus God’s omnipotence is a blunted arrowhead. Their ultimate death is a slug dissolving in salt, a stillborn child. In the KJV, God’s justice is a whirlwind.

God did not have to provide us these extraordinary mental images, but He did. To me, that means He values creativity and imagination and the parts of our brain that we don’t always exercise during a routine day.  What a wonderful way to get His point across!

Today, get creative. Compose a prayer to God that returns the favor of this Psalm. Make your praise rich with simile and metaphor. Write it down, even. You don’t have to show anyone. God will hear, and God will smile, and you will grow.

The Fool on the Hill

Psalm 53

There Is None Who Does Good

To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.

 ¹The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
   They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
   there is none who does good.

 ²God looks down from heaven
   on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
   who seek after God.

 ³They have all fallen away;
   together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
   not even one.

 ⁴Have those who work evil no knowledge,
   who eat up my people as they eat bread,
   and do not call upon God?

 ⁵There they are, in great terror,
   where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
   you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

 ⁶Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
   When God restores the fortunes of his people,
   let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

To read about the depravity of mankind is never bright and cheery, but before you ponder the gloom of this Psalm, you might, like me, be struck with the familiarity of the verses. Anyone who shares the Gospel using the Romans Road recognizes that Romans 3:10-12 quotes this Psalm. If you’re feeling another sense of déjà vu, it might be because Psalm 53 restates much of Psalm 14. The pair could be considered fraternal twins who look a lot alike; some phrases are identical but some very interesting differences exist, include the name of God (Ps 53 uses Elohim, Creator God, more often).

Why two nearly identical Psalms? Since I’m a musical person, my first thought is to consider these written words as lyrics but recognize that we don’t have access to the accompaniment (on this side of Heaven). Maybe they have different tunes. They’re both dirges but they’re in different contexts that might have warranted a musical contrast. Think of the Joe Cocker version of a Beatles song.

Putting such questions aside and considering Psalm 53 on its own, it’s a flat-out bummer. The foolish deny God, who looks upon Earth for a single soul who seeks Him and finds none. Depressing as it is, it’s vitally important. We cannot comprehend the need for our Savior until we comprehend the utter depravity of man. We cannot visualize the power of God until we realize the powerlessness of man. We cannot long for redemption from the depths of our being (verse 6) until we think upon that from which we are redeemed.

So, ponder the depravity of man, but only long enough to feel led to do two things: Rejoice and be glad in grace and salvation, and be obedient to God’s call to go and make disciples of this lost world.

who’s side of the battle are you on?

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.

4 For behold, the kings assembled;
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish as of a woman in labor.
7 By the east wind you shattered
the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever. Selah

9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 As your name, O God,
so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!

12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.

- Psalm 48

This Psalm, one of the ten ascribed to the sons of Korah, is a study in
reactions. The God of verses 1-3 is majestic, praiseworthy, holy, and
beautiful. The word pictures of Mount Zion and her citadels bring a
sense of comfort and shelter. Our reaction to this image of God is a
confident nod and a phrase of praise.

Then we turn to an altogether different scene. Kings are gathered,
implying an image of armies of multiple nations joining forces as in our
World Wars. Their reaction to this same God follows a thrilling
sequence: astonishment, then panic, and then the trembling of abject
fear. Our confident nod changes to a wide-eyed shudder. I’m reminded of
Hebrews 10:31. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.” Indeed. It is also a very, very good thing to be on His
side in battle.

God is the Narnian lion who is good, but not safe. He is the Man of
Sorrows and the God of Wrath. It is fitting that so great a God can be
defined equally well by such conflicting adjectives.

How do you respond to God? It has a lot to do with sin. Sin is the great
barrier that we erect with our own hands, and as soon as it’s built we
realize there’s something between us and God. Our praise turns to fear.
Our beautiful God becomes a dreadful God. And somehow we choose to do
this to ourselves, over and over.

Does not the reaction of the first three verses of this Psalm sound a
lot better than the reaction of the next four? What a stunning call for
repentance! It’s a very, very good thing to be on His side in battle,
right where He wants us.

(Bonus points to this Psalm for the cameo appearance of the city
Tarshish (Jonah 1:3), a word that’s just delightful to say aloud. Go
ahead, try it!)

Deceit and complaints and praise

1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

- Psalm 43

Injustice. The word itself gets my adrenaline flowing. I grew up watching Superman fight for truth, justice, and the American way, and I just don’t like it when someone is wronged. I want to jump to their defense, to take a stand against the injustice, to seek vindication. Maybe I should have been a lawyer!

Psalm 43 finds the injustice happening to the Psalmist himself. He cries out to the Great Vindicator for deliverance, and in verse 2 divulges his impatience. He sounds exasperated, and he’s complaining. Does he have that right? Complaint is a natural response in the face of injustice. Just last night I was complaining about a company that wouldn’t take a defective product back because it was past their scant 30-day warranty. Seemed unjust to me. However, we all know from experience that the “natural” response is not always the correct response.

So, is the Psalmist unjustified in his complaint to God? It’s important to note the distinction: he is complaining to God, not complaining about God. What follows is a beautiful picture of the “psychological healing” God can do in us when we are open with Him. The complaints of verse 2 turn not to rejection of God’s path, but in verse 3 to a renewed motivation to follow that very path.  This is exclamation point territory, and verses 3 and 4 are a beautiful passage to memorize. Notice: the path is not clear, but the destination is. The altar of God, our exceeding joy, the place at which we can praise Him, should be our target in any circumstance. Our Psalmist knows not how to get there, particularly in his present situation among the deceitful and unjust, but he is now reminded of where he wants to go and what it will take to get there: the leadership of God’s light and truth.

If only it were that simple. Difficult predicament + complaint to God = renewed praise and motivation. Alas, our carnal natures in this real world do not always follow the equation. Witness verse 5, an honest statement from a conflicted emotion that should resonate with all of us. We are a people of split personalities, and I picture the Psalmist, likely David, standing, pacing, speaking the words of verse 5 aloud to himself. If God is really my exceeding joy, and I know that, then why do I feel so… downcast. Continuing the psychological progression of these 5 verses, he concludes with a reminder to hope in God, knowing the praise will eventually return.

Oh, how we need those reminders to ourselves! Little coat hooks where we can hang our situations, our hopes, and yes, our complaints. Hope in God, for even if you don’t feel like you can do it right now, you shall again praise Him.

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