Psalms

I have started reading through Psalms to kind of go along with the One-Year daily Bible that some of my friends (some of you) are reading this year. So far I have read as far as Psalm 5. I don't plan to blog every time I read, but I have some thoughts I want to share that I think apply to many of the Psalms.

A common theme in the things that David writes is for God to take vengeance on the wicked, especially those who are against David in particular. To us this may seem rather barbaric, and it may surprise us when David describes how God does take out his vengeance. However--and this may seem harsh too--it occurred to me that God only punishes those who deserve it. The people being destroyed are those who have brought it upon themselves by their actions. These people are against God, not just unsure if they believe in Him, but actively in opposition to Him. They are described as wicked, sinners, mockers, conspirers, plotters, foes, enemies, arrogant, wrong-doers, liars, bloodthirsty, deceitful, filled with destruction, rebels, etc., and this is just what I saw in the first five Psalms. Most of these traits are things that would make these people hated by men too. If we actually knew them, we might feel like it was right for them to be punished. Most people could say, "good riddance" to evil men.

However, there is a problem. The rest of us "good" people have some of these traits too. What one of us hasn't ever lied? Who hasn't plotted in their heart to strike out at someone who hurt them? Is there anyone who has actually followed every single command of those in authority (this includes listening to our parents, following the speed limit, everything)? The thing is, all of us are sinners, and, really, all of us deserve to die. Even the best of us isn't perfect, even David. In light of this, I love verse 7 of Psalm 5:

But I, by your great mercy,

will come into your house;

in reverence will I bow down

toward your holy temple.

David doesn't get to come into the house of God because he is somehow worthy. Rather, God takes mercy on him, which indicates that there was some offense that God chose to pardon. Mercy is only necessary when someone has done wrong. But we might say, okay, if David is a sinner too, then why does he get mercy when others get vengeance? Well, one clue is that David is bowing down in reverence. Another is in verse 8:

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

because of my enemies--

make straight your way before me.

We can see here that David is actively seeking to be righteous. This doesn't mean that he is always right, but he acknowledges that he needs God to lead him. Instead of plotting against God, which we know from Psalm 2 is a vain endeavor anyway, David, recognizing God's power and authority, is choosing to let God rule him. Let's look at verse 11:

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

When I read this verse, something that I ask myself is, What do they need protection from? I may be stretching this further than it is intended to go, but I think, honestly, there is only one thing that anyone needs to fear, and that is God. If I am on God's side, I really don't need to fear anything else because He is greater than anything that could hurt me. If I am opposed to God, then I have every reason to be afraid. It follows, then, that I definitely don't want to be on God's bad side. However, since I am imperfect, the only way for me to be right with Him is for Him to lead me and to "make straight [His] way before me." If sin is what causes God's wrath to fall on me, then for me to be "safe," the thing I need protection from is sin.

Yes, there are physical enemies on earth that we need protection from, as well as people who hurt us emotionally. Yes, God is the one to protect us. But, for us to be under God's protection, we need to make sure that we are not the enemy. We are incapable of doing this on our own, so God has to work in us to make us righteous. He will only do that, though, if we let him, so I conclude that the best we can do is to fall helpless before Him, admitting that we can do nothing without Him. Then he will be our refuge.

For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;

you surround them with your favor

as with a shield (verse 12).

I encourage you to read all of Psalm 5 again with the idea that we need protection from sin. I think that everyone will be able to relate. I know I did.

-Becky

Psalm 119 - Becky

I want to share with you some thoughts about my random Bible reading for today.  I used to try to follow along with a Daily Bible or at least to go in chronological or some other order, but I have found that it works better for me right now to read bigger, "stand alone" sections every few days instead of reading smaller bits of a continuing story every single day.  Don't worry; I do try to read a big enough chunk each time to get the full context.  Actually, for things like the "Pauline Epistles" (especially, say, Galatians or Ephesians) I highly recommend reading entire books in single sittings to achieve greater understanding.  Anyway, this morning I randomly opened up to Psalm 119, and, to be honest, I was not so thrilled about it.  For one thing, I knew I needed to read the entire Psalm (which is long) to get the big picture.  Also, the whole thing is about following God's law (which can be a major guilt trip if taken the wrong way).  However, in reading it this time I was intrigued, encouraged, and challenged.  Below are just some of the ideas and questions I gleaned from it.  For those of you who have studied it too, I welcome your thoughts as well.

One of the first things that caught my mind was in verse 41: "May your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise."  Those of us who read this now through the lens of Christ might pass this over because we are so used to hearing about salvation and the fulfillment of God's promises.  However, when David wrote this, Christ had not yet died, and I'm not sure what God had told David about the whole salvation thing.  I'm very interested to know what David was talking about here (and in the numerous other places in the Psalm where he mentions salvation).  The quick answer that comes to my brain is that David was referring to the promises God gave to Abraham and Moses, particularly the stuff in Deuteronomy about the blessings the Israelites would receive for following God's laws.  I get the feeling from various accounts of David that he took this stuff very seriously.  I just wonder what he actually knew about the salvation that would come through Christ's sacrifice.  When we read Psalm 119, which type of "salvation" should we be thinking about?  Like I said, we are accustomed to thinking of salvation through Christ, but is there some other level of salvation from God that David knew before Christ even came?  (I certainly don't believe in salvation apart from Christ, but is Christ's salvation a part of some bigger, general kind of salvation?)

Another thought I had that partially answers this question is that there is benefit simply from following the laws themselves.  In verse 45, David says, "I walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts."  In general, we tend not to associate laws with a word like "freedom."  Again, this makes sense in light of Christ sacrifice, but that hadn't happened yet.  I propose that these laws (or "precepts" or whatever) are not so much devices to control us and to keep us from doing what we want (i.e. experiencing "freedom") but are statements about the way the world works.  (C.S. Lewis talks about this in "Mere Christianity," which we are studying in our Sunday AM class, but this idea has been rolling around in my brain for a while now.)  These moral, spiritual laws are, in my opinion, akin to laws of science like Gravity and Relativity.  Verse 152 says, "Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever."  As long as there is a physical world, things that go up will always come down again.  In the same way, it is always a good idea to treat people with the love in which you would have them treat you, and there will never be a situation in which you should cheat on your spouse.  What I wonder is, if gravity can be observed scientifically and even measured, can the same be done with spiritual laws?  Well, I know that we can observe them, but it would be interesting to see if they can be tested and analyzed scientifically.  Maybe it doesn't work that way; I don't know.  I guess maybe that's what the Pharisees tried to do, breaking the laws down into formulas.  Still, it would be encouraging to have everyone agree that, yes, this is how the world works and so we should live accordingly.

I say that, feeling frustrated that the world just doesn't "get it," even though God's laws really are as obvious as gravity.  However, I myself don't follow these laws perfectly (far from it), even though I know how good and true they are.  The third thing I noticed in this Psalm was David's cry for help from God so that he would be able to follow the laws.  He uses phrases like "do not let me stray from your commands," "turn my heart toward your statutes," "let no sin rule over me," etc.  Over and over again he asks God to come in and control him.  On the surface, that looks even less like "freedom," but if you think about it in terms of freedom from sin, it makes a lot of sense.  I have had numerous discussions with people about free will versus God's control over our lives (though I really don't wish to get into that here), and many people have brought up that God doesn't micro-manage our lives.  However, I say that the absolute best thing for us would be to have God micro-manage our lives.  We know from experience that, despite our best intentions, we simply can't follow God's laws perfectly on our own.  What a relief it would be to have God swoop in and make us do everything we're supposed to do!  (I understand that would affect the love element on our part, but I am talking about God controlling people who have already decided to love Him.)  I love verse 109: "Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law."  I know I live this way all the time, doing things that are stupid even though I haven't forgotten what I should be doing.  What I really want is for my life to be in God's "hands."  Thankfully, we do have salvation, and we live in a time when we do know about Christ.  We don't have to be plagued by guilt all the time, so I can read this Psalm without breaking down in shame.

If anyone has any thoughts to add, especially if you have any more information about the context of this Psalm, please share.

-Becky