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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Come, they say, and let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Muslims argue that Israel / the Jews are not a people: “Israeli Jews</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> can only be nationals of (other) states, where nationality is not Jewish. The demand for the liquidation of Israel thus also stems directly as a necessary conclusion from the definition that the Jews are (already) not a nation</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> since the state of Israel is not based on true nationalism, it is often described in Arabic as an ‘artificial entity’</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>the theory that the Jews do not constitute a nation is also recited for the claim of exclusive Arab nationality of the Palestinian state” (Naji Alush, The Road To Palestine p:141). </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>“Victory for the Arabs is possible only in the liquidation of Israel; anything else is capitulation::. The Jews are not a nation and thus on principle do not deserve to have a state of their own</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>there is no atrocity that cannot be justified in order to bring about the liquidation of Israel” (Y. Harkabi, The Palestinian Covenant And It’s Meaning (Totowa, N:J: Valentine, Mitchell & Co:, 1979) p:12). The desire to “cut them off from being a nation” runs counter to God’s clear statement in <a href='B:10 25:23'>Gen 25:23</a>: “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>”. Note that they were not to be of a different ethnicity, as both Jews and Arabs often claim [for they were from the same parents], but different types of people.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For they have conspired together with one mind, they form an alliance against You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The nations are listed here according to their geographical position, starting in the East and then passing around clockwise to the south and up to the north east. The idea is that all the nations surrounding Israel are involved in this confederacy- which is exactly the situation Israel is currently in.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The surrounding Muslims will unite themselves against Israel. The ‘Palestinian National Covenant’ uses the Arab word Qawmi for ‘National’ – i:e. pan-Arab. Note the RV of <a href='B:230 83:5'>Psa 83:5</a>: “Against thee do they make a covenant”. “The Palestinian National Authority will strive to achieve a union of the confrontation countries [i:e. “all nations around about” Israel]</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> or a step along the road to comprehensive Arab unity” – Political Programs of the P:L:O:, Article 8. “The Palestinian National Council calls upon the Arab nation [singular!] to shoulder its pan-Arab responsibilities and to pool all its energies to confront</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> Zionism” – Political Resolution of the 13th Palestinian National Council, Article 4:&nbsp;The Palestinian Liberation Army is under an “inter-Arab High Command” (Y. Harkabi, The Palestinian Covenant And It’s Meaning (Totowa, N:J: Valentine, Mitchell & Co:, 1979) p:1) p. 62. “The Palestinians will have three mottoes:&nbsp; national unity, pan-Arab mobilization, and liberation” (Are these the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16 that gather the nations around Israel to battle?) – Political Resolution of the 13th Palestinian National Council, Article 11.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>“Nasser used to argue that Arab unity is a pre-requisite for </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>enabling the initiation of an all-out war against Israel”::. “The Arab ‘nation’ is made up of ‘peoples’ and the (one) Arab homeland comprises the national homeland of these peoples</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>the relationship of the people and the individual to the overall Arab homeland and nation is called in modern Arabic Qamwiyya (nationalism)</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>like the trunk of a tree that branches off into offshoots of local patriotism</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>the splitting up of the Arab region into separate states carved out by the colonial powers:&nbsp; However, once Arab unity is achieved and the frontiers wiped out</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>” (Harkabi, pp. 70,31). “As for the Egyptians, the Iraqis</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> they are nothing but the peoples and branches of one nation, the Arab nation” (Sati Al-Husri, Arabism First, (Beirut Lebanon: P:L:O. Research Centre) p. 13). “Colonialism shattered the unity of our Arab nation and the unity of our Arab homeland</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>but this has not prevented the masses</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> from feeling they are one people” -Resolution of Palestinian National Council, 1971 (As recorded in Anne Zahlan, International Documents on Palestine (Beirut, Lebanon:&nbsp; Institute for Palestine Studies, 1974) p. 398).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The intention is to create a single nation which is home for all the Arab peoples. This may include not only Palestine but all of the land promised to Abraham. “Palestine is inseparable from the Arab homeland”::. “King Hussein’s plan for the establishment of a so-called United Arab Kingdom”::. “This crisis has captivated the whole Arab nation throughout the greater Arab homeland” (Harkabi, pp. 99,135,136) – i:e. the earth/land promised to Abraham.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It could well be that the entire area promised to Abraham is briefly confederated into one Arab super state once Israel is over-run. In this sense all the prophecies about the eretz (the land / earth) being dominated by Israel’s enemies would then come true. Not only will the Arabs unite amongst themselves but they will unite many other world forces in their anti-Judaism. This must be, for if there is to be a time of trouble for Jacob such as never was, the millions of Jews living in North America are going to have to be persecuted even worse than they were by Nazi Germany. Things are going to have to change- dramatically, and in a very short time. The god of this world is humanism, and it seems that all the world will be united by the Arabs against Israel under this guise. “The enemy of humanity’ is a phrase&nbsp; found in Arab writing to designate Israel::. Such a description is designed to mobilize support from all peoples, because Zionism is portrayed as an imperialist base that threatens them too” (Harkabi, p. 90). Article 16 of the P:L:O. National Covenant:&nbsp; “The liberation of Palestine, from a spiritual point of view, will provide the Holy Land with an atmosphere of safety and tranquility, which in turn will safeguard the country’s religious sanctuaries</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>. accordingly, the people of Palestine look to all spiritual forces in the world for support."</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The way the Islamists will seek to bind together their divided state is made clear in Psalms 83, where we have ten local nations (cp. the ten invading nations of Ezekiel 38, the ten horns of the beast and ten toes of the Daniel 2 image), mostly in Al-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sham, Greater Syria, who unite themselves with a common aim of capturing the holy places in Jerusalem and blotting out the name of Israel.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Note that ‘Philistine’ and ‘Palestinian’ are the same word</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> Tyre and Gebal speak of present day Lebanon. All the strong differences and rivalries will for a moment be forgotten in the common hatred of Israel.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :1 for the primary fulfilment of this in Assyria helping Ammon at the time of David. The prophecies of Assyria clearly have a latter day fulfilment. It seems "Assyria" refers to an umbrella state or coalition which gives power and identity to these various disparate factions.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In these incidents, the surrounding invaders destroyed themselves. As Sisera was the leader of the confederacy at this time, so there will be a rosh or head over the latter day confederacy (see on :2). There is plenty of evidence that the Islamist solidarity against Israel is very shallow; they are deeply fractured, and a victory against the Jews could well bring out those differences immediately, in a very bitter and self-destructive way. This final destruction is likely that spoken of in Revelation, where after a brief period of unity against God’s people, “The horns hate the whore”- the final form of the coalition against Israel. The final phase of domination of the land of Israel foretold in Daniel 2 was by a confederacy of “iron and clay”, nations that don’t mix together well; although in the context of dominating Israel, they are united. Particularly the Palestinians and other Arabs are mutually suspicious of each other; and there is ample tension between Iraq [latter day Babylon] and its Arab neighbours. “Expressions of suspicion toward the Arab states abound in Palestinian writings:&nbsp;They contain sharp criticism of discrimination against the Palestinians in the form of restrictive decrees in employment and travel. Expressions of hatred can even be found against the Arab states”::. “The P:L:O. will retaliate against the Arab states</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> if they take a line of policy which the P:L:O. regards as inimical to it’s cause”::. “Arab governments (are) suspicious of the plan to organize the Palestinians into the Palestinian entity” (Harkabi, pp. 72,96,10).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Even "dung for the earth" is a condemnation still pregnant with hope. For the intention is that through the judgment of this confederacy, the "earth" / land promised to Abraham will again become fertile. For dung is spread upon the earth to make it fertile.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They were defeated as a result of God making their troops turn on each other (<a href='B:70 7:22-25'>Jdg 7:22-25</a>):&nbsp;As noted on :10, self-condemnation and self judgment is God's preferred way of dealing with His enemies. "Zeeb" is the word for "wolf"; let's not forget that the final picture of the Kingdom is of the wolf living at peace with the lamb on mount Zion, referring to the wild animals of the surrounding nations being reconciled to God and His people (<a href='B:290 11:6'>Isa 11:6</a>; <a href='B:290 65:25'>Isa 65:25</a>). See on :16.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who said, Let us take possession of God’s pasturelands-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:230 83:11-12'>Psa 83:11-12</a> records how the leaders of the Midianite invasion said, " Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession" (AV):&nbsp;The raw lust of the surrounding peoples for Israel's riches is currently camouflaged in the same way:&nbsp;And we see a similar focus upon the holy places of Jerusalem, which is attaining an ever higher status in Islamist theology, beginning to replace Mecca in their thinking as the most holy city of Islam. Before the final onslaught in Gideon's time, those nations had "encamped against" Israel:&nbsp;The Hebrew literally meaning 'to incline a pole' has an uncanny relevance to the pointing of missiles towards them. There can be little doubt that the vast arsenals of missiles will come into use soon.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The Chaldeans::. shall::. possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs" (<a href='B:420 1:6'>Hab 1:6</a>) sounds like <a href='B:230 83:12'>Psa 83:12</a>, concerning the latter-day confederacy saying, "Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession" (AV). The implication is that Babylon, too, wished to possess the holy places of Jerusalem for religious reasons.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Clearly enough, the specific focus of the P:L:O. has been on taking control of Jerusalem’s holy places. This was evident in all of Arafat’s speeches. The P:L:O. refuses to cease hostilities against God’s people until they are in possession of Jerusalem. It seems that the ideal of the P:L:O. is to establish a fake Kingdom of God in the land promised to Abraham, with Jerusalem as the capital, a new ‘temple’ built there, and some antiChrist figure ruling there. Their dream is of a land of plenty and true tolerance and equality, glorifying all the principles of humanism- and yet excluding God’s people. All Arabs and Muslims world-wide would be encouraged to return and live in this Arab superstate, mimicking how the true seed of Abraham will be gathered home in the last days. The P:L:O. plan to send the Jews out of the land into captivity- Saddam Hussein once said just the same.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Babylonian captivity will be re-enacted, and then in a ‘second exodus’ the Jews will return and perhaps build the temple which they were instructed to build in Ezekiel 40-48. This expulsion of the Jews from the land is foretold in Deuteronomy 28 - where disobedient Israel are to be taken into Egypt again by ships, something which has never yet occurred; and also in Zechariah 14, where in the last days Jerusalem is to be captured by her enemies and half the city go off into captivity. And then, the Lord returns to the Mount of Olives from which He left. “Only Jews who undertake to be loyal to the Palestinian state shall be recognized</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> the recurring motif in Palestinian literature which insists that the Jews who would be allowed (to remain) should relinquish Zionism” (Harkabi, p. 46). “Peace in the land of Palestine and the neighboring countries is our heart’s desire:&nbsp; Above all, a precondition for this is the liberation of Palestine” (Fayez Sayegh, A Handful of Mist (Beirut, Lebanon: P:L:O. Research Centre) p:19). “The right to return includes the right to get back all former Arab property, the return of which will cause the mass eviction of Israelis from Jaffa, Nazareth, etc. ::. The establishment of the Palestinian state is bound up with a mass evacuation of Jews from their homes, and they will be thus forced to emigrate” (Harkabi, pp. 157,56).</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Shuqairy, founder of the P:L:O:, often made the proposal to send the Jews back to their countries of origin:&nbsp; Naji Alush repeats the proposal and asks, “Why not ask the U:N. to finance this plan?” (p. 219) . If accepted, this would unite “all nations” against Israel and her Messiah. Article 11 of the Constitution of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party read:&nbsp; “Whoever emigrated to the Arab homeland (Palestine) with a colonialist aim shall be expelled”. Naji Alush defines “the stand of the Arab national movement on Palestine concerning the Jews” as being that the same number of Jews that were in Palestine before 1914 (i:e. 20,000) should be allowed to remain, and own the 1% of the land they then owned – and the rest be extradited (Naji Alush, The Palestinian National Movement (Beirut, Lebanon, 1969) p. 170):&nbsp; “Permission to stay in Palestine should be granted to the Jews who shall declare that they are giving up the idea of the Jewish state” (Niqula Al-Dor (one time member of the P:L:O. Executive), Thus Lost and Thus to be Returned (Beirut, Lebanon: Al-Hawadith Press)).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is significant that the Arabs demand that the minority of Jews who they would let remain become ‘Arabs’. “Such a state</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> should be explicitly & emphatically an Arab state with a minority of Jews, who from a national viewpoint, would become Arabs” (Harkabi, p:52). It could be that this meant they accepted Islam. In this case we would have an analogous situation to that in countless historical types of the last days: Israel accept the idols of the surrounding Arab world and are judged because of it.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea of a whirlwind sweeping away Israel's enemies is the picture of Daniel 2, where the image is broken and swept away at the return of Christ. The image therefore seems to speak of a latter day domination of Israel by her surrounding enemies who for a brief time dominate eretz Israel.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Asaph lived at the time of the restoration (<a href='B:150 2:41'>Ezr 2:41</a>). All his Psalms draw on the past dealings of God with His people and encourage them on this basis to make the wilderness journey back&nbsp; to the land, just as they had done at the Exodus. In this context, Psalms 83 concerns the neighbouring nations who were wanting to cut off the people of Judah who had returned at the restoration. Verse 13 asks for the prophecy of <a href='B:340 2:44'>Dan 2:44</a> to be fulfilled against them in the form of Messiah’s coming. But this prophecy has been deferred to our last days, when a returned Israel seek the same deliverance:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It would only be supernaturally intense heat which could melt and destroy a mountain. This is the language of the last days, used in <a href='B:730 8:8'>Rev 8:8</a> about the burning mountain of the latter day invader of Israel being cast into the sea in permanent destruction. This intense heat, approaching like a forest fire, is intended to elicit repentance from Israel's latter day abusers; see on :16,17.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>so pursue them with Your tempest, and terrify them with Your storm-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The purpose of this pursuit and terror is intended to elicit repentance from Israel's latter day abusers; see on :16,17. Those who do not want this will be swept away like chaff by the wind of God's judgments; which is exactly the scene of the destruction of the image in Daniel 2. See on :13.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek Your name, Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The intention of these judgments is always so that God's enemies may repent. See on :11. Confusion or "dishonour" (AV) is required, being shamed for sin, before people guilty of this level of abuse will really repent.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The emphasis upon "let them::." may suggest they are to be faced with condemnation right before their face, but in order that they seek Yahweh (:16). Their being confounded is the "confusion" of :16 which is intended to elicit their repentance. As ever, there is positive intention in God's judgments, and not at all the explosion in wrath of an offended deity. Only those who face condemnation in the face and say "yes" to it will be condemned. See on :18.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How lovely are Your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies!-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to be a psalm of David whilst in exile either from Saul or Absalom, longing to be back in the sanctuary. But it has likely been reused and reapplied under inspiration to the exiles.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My soul longs and even faints for the courts of Yahweh. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's desire for the sanctuary has been rewritten with reference to the "courts" of the temple, which didn't exist in his time. "The living God" can be 'the God of the living ones', perhaps a reference to the glory of the cherubim seen over the ark. Yet in the wilderness Psalms, David often says that he lives under the shadow of those cherubic wings, as if even without seeing the ark and whilst far from the sanctuary, he felt as if he lived beneath God's glory, under the shadow of the cherubic wings, over the blood of atonement on the cover of the ark. But despite that awareness, he still longs for the physical, external symbols of faith, and so longs to be at the sanctuary again. It was this failure to learn his lesson that led to his obsession with building a physical temple, which God responded to negatively, initially. And it became a stumbling block for later generations because of the emphasis upon the physical symbols of religion, rather than the essence.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may have her young, near Your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King, and my God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David recalls how wild birds flew into the sanctuary and even nested there. And he in his exile is jealous of them. He often likens himself to a bird, which is being hunted. Often David likens his enemies' plans to catch him as snares, gins etc. set for birds (e:g. <a href='B:230 84:3'>Psa 84:3</a>; <a href='B:230 102:6'>Psa 102:6</a>; Psalms 124; Psalms 7; <a href='B:230 140:5'>Psa 140:5</a>)- all the language of hunting birds. He had probably done plenty of this as a youngster caring for the sheep, and the influence of those formative years remained. But extending the likeness of himself to a bird, he now wishes he could just fly into the sanctuary and nest there.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are always praising You. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David seems to assume that those who lived in the temple precincts were blessed because they were always praising God. But he is overlooking the principle so often expressed in his wilderness Psalms- that he could continually praise God wherever he was. It seems that like us, he learned the lesson at the time and in theory, but failed to apply it in later life, such was his human hankering after the external symbols of religion.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed are those whose strength is in You; who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"In whose hearts are the highways (to Zion)". The LXX has "goings up", an idea always associated with 'going up' to Zion and 'coming down' from it after attending a feast. This idea would have been appropriate for the exiles; all whose heart was set on the way back to Zion would be blessed. But most preferred to remain in Babylon.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This valley of Baca (AV) was some "waterless and barren valley through which pilgrims passed on their way to Jerusalem". But it was transformed by the autumn rains, bursting forth into life. The same language is used for what could have happened to the exiles if they followed David's path of restoration. For <a href='B:290 35:6'>Isa 35:6</a>; <a href='B:290 41:18'>Isa 41:18</a> use the same ideas concerning the restoration, whereby dry valleys would come alive with water and new growth. LXX "The lawgiver shall give blessings". In Psalms 23 David likens his exile to passing through the valley of the shadow of death, and yet confidently hopes for restoration.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They go from strength to strength-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again is language appropriate to the returning exiles, who would "renew their strength" (<a href='B:290 40:31'>Isa 40:31</a>):&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Each one of them appears before God in Zion-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Appearing before God is the language of attending a feast, and it was also David's desire in <a href='B:230 42:2'>Psa 42:2</a>. And yet the wilderness Psalms claim that he felt just as close to God as ever before, even though he could not keep the feasts whilst on the run. But he seems to be jealous of those who could. The power of religion and the desire to perform religious ritual is seen very strongly in David, and as with us, the pole of religiosity struggles against that of personal spirituality.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, God of Armies, hear my prayer; listen, God of Jacob. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The reference to "Armies" may suggest an understanding that God's Angels would guide David back to the sanctuary; "God of Jacob" is likewise an Angelic phrase (<a href='B:10 48:16'>Gen 48:16</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Behold, God our shield, look at the face of Your anointed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It was David who was the anointed of God, and so this Psalm likely originated whilst he was anointed but not crowned, on the run from Saul, in exile therefore from the sanctuary. The reference to God as shield is another reminder to himself that he was of the true seed of Abraham (<a href='B:10 15:1'>Gen 15:1</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the tent of my God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This reflects the feelings of the righteous remnant in Babylon- e:g. the thought that just one day in God's temple is better than a thousand days in Babylon's "tents of wickedness" (<a href='B:230 84:10'>Psa 84:10</a>). Doorkeepers in the house of their God was exactly what the sons of Korah were (<a href='B:130 9:19'>1Ch 9:19</a>; <a href='B:130 26:1'>1Ch 26:1</a>; <a href='B:130 26:12-19'>1Ch 26:12-19</a>); perhaps this Psalm was appropriated by them whilst in Babylon. Dwelling in the tents of wickedness would be therefore a disassociation from their ancestor Korah (<a href='B:40 16:26'>Num 16:26</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Perhaps the reference is the same as in <a href='B:230 120:5'>Psa 120:5</a>, where David laments that he must dwell among the tents of Kedar, when he would far rather be in the sanctuary. Kedar was the second son of Ishmael (<a href='B:10 25:13'>Gen 25:13</a>), one of the wild roaming tribes whose hand was against every man (<a href='B:10 16:13'>Gen 16:13</a>). Perhaps there was a time when fleeing from Saul when David had to live amongst them, and he longs to be back in Zion. Or perhaps he simply means that he has to live among hostile and barbarous people, who are characterized as the wild Kedar and Meshech.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Whatever the primary reference of this Psalm, it is a reworking of David's feelings when persecuted by Saul and likewise on the run from him. For circumstances repeat in our lives, and it would be natural for David to reconsider Psalms written at the time of one exile and apply them to another, just as these Psalms were also used for others in their times of exile. "Wickedness" is the word used about Saul's persecution in <a href='B:90 24:13'>1Sa 24:13</a>. Perhaps he felt that whilst working as a musician in Saul's palace he was living in tents of wickedness.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Another reminder to himself that he was of the true seed of Abraham (<a href='B:10 15:1'>Gen 15:1</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We wonder at David's possible arrogance in assuming that he or any man can walk blamelessly. Only the Lord Jesus fits thIsa. And yet this is the phrase used in God's command to Abraham and his seed (<a href='B:10 17:1'>Gen 17:1</a>). It was only possible for Abraham to do so by his faith in imputed righteousness, by grace through faith. But it's questionable as to whether David at this point realized that; he had to learn it through reflection upon the wonder of how God had counted him righteous after the sin with Bathsheba.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"By" can as well be "for", so the Psalm may still be Davidic, but is dedicated to the memory of the sons of Korah. Korah had died in rebellion against God, but his children had been preserved (<a href='B:40 26:9-11'>Num 26:9-11</a>); they therefore became representative of all who had overcome bad background to worship Yahweh independently, regardless of the sins of their fathers. They were therefore inspirational to the righteous remnant amongst the exiles in Babylon. Or these "sons of Korah" may refer to a group of musicians who were to perform the Psalm, the Levitical singers mentioned in <a href='B:130 26:1-2'>1Ch 26:1-2</a>; <a href='B:140 20:19'>2Ch 20:19</a>. Or if we insist on reading "by", it could have been a Davidic Psalm edited and as it were released by a group called "the sons of Korah" during the captivity in Babylon.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, You have been favourable to Your land. You have restored the fortunes of Jacob-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may be an example of the 'prophetic perfect', speaking of that yet future, that being asked for, as if it had already happened. Or we could call this language 'fantasy', of the kind we may enjoy when looking forward to the kingdom age. The rest of the Psalm makes it clear that they were not at that time restored, and were still under God's wrath.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But the phrase for 'favourable to Your land' is that used of how during the exile, the land would "enjoy" her Sabbaths (<a href='B:30 26:34'>Lev 26:34</a>; <a href='B:30 26:41'>Lev 26:41</a>)- until the people repented. But there is no emphasis upon repentance, just a passionate belief that God ought to remove the consequences of their sin. Likewise 'restoring the fortunes' is the phrase for 'return the captivity', which would happen only when Israel returned to Yahweh (<a href='B:50 30:2-3'>Deu 30:2-3</a>). But there is no mention of the need for this returning to Yahweh.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Asaph lived at the time of the restoration (<a href='B:150 2:41'>Ezr 2:41</a>). Psalms 85 reflects how that faithful remnant believed that God had forgiven them (<a href='B:230 85:2'>Psa 85:2</a>), and therefore they asked for His anger to cease and for Him to lead their feet in the way which would lead back to Zion (<a href='B:230 85:4'>Psa 85:4</a>; <a href='B:230 85:13'>Psa 85:13</a> RV). But we note that there is a plea for forgiveness and faith this would be granted; but little emphasis upon repentance. The prophets required that Judah 'return' to their God in repentance [s:w:] so that they might return to the land.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We also note that forgiveness is seen as 'covering' of sin. This was absolutely possible in Old Testament times, even without the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. That sacrifice was to as it were flag human attention and elicit faith in the fact that God really does forgive sin and save people. For God is not a pagan deity requiring the blood of a human before He can forgive. David spoke of the blessedness of the man like him whose sin was covered, because he had not himself covered or hid it (<a href='B:230 32:1'>Psa 32:1</a>; <a href='B:230 32:5'>Psa 32:5</a>). But the exiles needed to follow the pattern of David in repentance and restoration.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have taken away all Your wrath, You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This and <a href='B:230 78:38'>Psa 78:38</a> seems to suggest God Himself controlled His anger, Himself turning that anger away, rather than being like a pagan deity whose anger was appeased by blood sacrifice. God turned from His anger due to Moses' intercession (<a href='B:20 32:12'>Exo 32:12</a> s:w:), but this is not to say that He cannot in any case turn away His anger, simply by His grace. Just as we may control our anger from within ourselves, or at other times we may do this because of the appeal of another to us, or because there is repentance from the one who provoked us. And there were times when this was the case with God (s:w. <a href='B:40 25:4'>Num 25:4</a>; <a href='B:60 7:26'>Jos 7:26</a>; <a href='B:140 12:12'>2Ch 12:12</a>; <a href='B:140 29:10'>2Ch 29:10</a>; <a href='B:140 30:8'>2Ch 30:8</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Turn us, God of our salvation, and cause Your indignation toward us to cease-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmist believed that God could turn the hearts of men to repentance; for repentance is itself a gift of God (<a href='B:510 11:18'>Act 11:18</a>). God is able to work directly upon human hearts to bring about repentance. But we wonder whether the psalmist would not have been better in confessing their sin as Daniel does in Daniel 9, and Ezra likewise; rather than as it were asking God to do the work of repentance for them.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same words are used in <a href='B:300 17:4'>Jer 17:4</a> about how God's anger would indeed burn for ever because of what Judah had done. Again we enquire why there is not an acceptance of this and a confession of sin, rather than repeatedly asking simply for the consequence of sin to be taken away. It was because of this lack of repentance that the envisaged restoration didn't take place as was potentially possible.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Won’t You revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The implication seems to be that they would not rejoice in their God unless He revived them, by removing the consequence of their sins irrespective of their repentance. Israel would live or be revived if they repented (<a href='B:330 33:19'>Eze 33:19</a> s:w:). And yet by grace, God did speak of how His Spirit would revive the dead bones of Israel (s:w. <a href='B:330 37:5-6'>Eze 37:5-6</a>; <a href='B:330 37:9'>Eze 37:9</a>). Seeing they had not repented, this was amazing grace to even offer that. The work of the Spirit does the same today; for repentance is itself a gift of God (<a href='B:510 11:18'>Act 11:18</a>). But like the exiles, we can refuse even that, and remain in exile from God because the old and familiar seems somehow better than revival with Him. See on :7:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Show us Your grace, Yahweh. Grant us Your salvation-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was the grace spoken of in :6; to revive them through the Spirit even whilst impenitent (<a href='B:330 37:5'>Eze 37:5</a>), even though such revival was predicated upon repentance (<a href='B:330 33:19'>Eze 33:19</a>). Such grace is the giving of salvation, but even that we have to accept and actually want it:&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, His saints; but let them not turn again to folly-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmist may here be finally hinting that at least he personally will hear or be obedient to God's word. But only in faith that God would grant the peace of forgiveness to His people. Such grace ought to mean that they never against turned to "folly", probably a reference to idolatry. </p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, so that glory may dwell in our land-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The glory of God had been seen by Ezekiel leaving Jerusalem and going into captivity; but the prophetic hope was that it would return. But Israel had to "fear Him" to receive that great salvation, and Ezekiel records how the exiles continued in idolatry.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that God's mercy would be given to those who were faithful ["truth"] to the covenant. "Mercy and truth" often refer to the promises to Abraham, which were the basis of the new covenant offered to the exiles in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, seeing they had broken the old covenant. Peace with God would come if the people devoted themselves to righteousness. This was the prophetic vision of the psalmist, but the reality was that the exiles didn't abide in the covenant, they tried to keep the broken old covenant and rejected the new covenant. And they were hardly characterized by a love of righteousness, as the history in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Malachi and Esther reveals.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Truth springs out of the earth, righteousness has looked down from heaven-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that Israel would abide in truth, in faithfulness to the new covenant; and God's righteousness would come from heaven in faithful response to that. See on :10.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The revived spiritual state of the people would be reflected in the prophesied kingdom conditions coming in the land. But there were famines when the exiles returned; this great prophetic potential was reapplied and rescheduled to Judah's final repentance in the last days.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Prayer by David.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hear, Yahweh, and answer me, for I am poor and needy-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had seen himself as "poor and needy", needing grace after his sin with Bathsheba and its consequences (<a href='B:230 40:17'>Psa 40:17</a>; <a href='B:230 70:5'>Psa 70:5</a>; <a href='B:230 86:1'>Psa 86:1</a>; <a href='B:230 109:16'>Psa 109:16</a>; <a href='B:230 109:22'>Psa 109:22</a>). He wished Solomon to likewise have pity on the "poor and needy" amongst the Gentiles, those who had likewise repented (<a href='B:230 72:13'>Psa 72:13</a>). And David was especially desirous to himself see the "poor and needy" blessed and accepted as he had been (<a href='B:230 82:3-4'>Psa 82:3-4</a>; <a href='B:230 113:7'>Psa 113:7</a>). It is our personal experience of needing grace which leads us to have a heart for those like us, the poor and needy. Any other motivation will ultimately not abide. Solomon appears to glorify his mother Bathsheba for likewise pitying the poor and needy (<a href='B:240 31:9'>Pro 31:9</a>; <a href='B:240 31:20'>Pro 31:20</a>). </p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Preserve my soul, for I am Godly. You, my God, save Your servant who trusts in You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Psalms 86 is a Psalm where David constantly speaks of his need for God’s forgiveness (<a href='B:230 86:3'>Psa 86:3</a>; <a href='B:230 86:5'>Psa 86:5</a>; <a href='B:230 86:15-16'>Psa 86:15-16</a>). And yet David in the same Psalm can say: “Preserve my soul; for I am holy” (<a href='B:230 86:2'>Psa 86:2</a>). He again has this sense of his own integrity and imputed righteousness, in the midst of realizing his need for God’s grace and forgiveness:&nbsp;&nbsp; David's repentance is a pattern for ours, day by day. See on <a href='B:230 41:12'>Psa 41:12</a>.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Be merciful to me Lord, for I call to You all day long-</p><h2>Prayer is part of the atmosphere of spiritual life, not something hived off and separate- it is an expression of our spirit. Thus there are verses which speak of many daily prayers as being just one prayer (<a href='B:230 86:3'>Psa 86:3</a>; <a href='B:230 86:6'>Psa 86:6</a>; <a href='B:230 88:1-2'>Psa 88:1-2</a>); prayer is a way / spirit of life, not something specific which occurs for a matter of minutes each day. The commands to "pray without ceasing" simply can't be literally obeyed (<a href='B:590 5:17'>1Th 5:17</a>). "Watch and pray always" in the last days likewise connects prayer with watchfulness, which is an attitude of mind rather than something done on specific occasions. This is not to say that prayer in no sense refers to formal, specific prayer. Evidently it does, but it is only a verbal crystallization of our general spirit of life.</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Bring joy to the soul of Your servant, for to You, Lord, do I lift up my soul-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is a repeated Biblical theme that the believer's relationship with the Father too is essentially mutual. David lifts himself up to God (<a href='B:230 25:1'>Psa 25:1</a>; <a href='B:230 28:2'>Psa 28:2</a>; <a href='B:230 86:4'>Psa 86:4</a>), and asks God to lift up Himself in response (<a href='B:230 7:6'>Psa 7:6</a>; <a href='B:230 10:12'>Psa 10:12</a>; <a href='B:230 94:2'>Psa 94:2</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive; abundant in grace to all those who call on You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :1, David feels he can say he is "holy" ["Godly"], and yet feels in need of forgiveness and grace. His sense of holiness was therefore because he believed righteousness could be imputed. Or we could conclude that one can still feel basically "Godly" even when having sinned and needing forgiveness.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hear, Yahweh, my prayer; listen to the voice of my petitions-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's prayer for help in time of trouble (:7) was therefore associated with a feeling the need for forgiveness (:5). Presumably this Psalm dates from a time when he faced distress and danger as a consequence of his sin with Bathsheba. He believed his sin had been forgiven, and at the time rejoiced in the grace shown him. And yet he still feels the need to ask for forgiveness. This is not necessarily a collapse of faith (although it could be). Rather is it a quite normal abiding realization that he has sinned and needs forgiveness. Just as we may sin against a person and be forgiven, and yet still feel the need later to again ask their forgiveness for that sin. This is not necessarily a lack of faith in the forgiveness granted, but a quite natural abiding awareness of our status before that person.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the day of my trouble I will call on You, for You will answer me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :6. He asks God to save him in the language of Israel’s Red Sea deliverance, speaking of it as “the day of my trouble” (<a href='B:230 86:7-8'>Psa 86:7-8</a> = <a href='B:20 15:11'>Exo 15:11</a>). He saw how their circumstances and his were in principle the same; he personalized the Scripture he had read. Likewise David invites us to come and see the works God did at the Red Sea, commenting: “there did we rejoice in him” (<a href='B:230 66:5-6'>Psa 66:5-6</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The intention of David's Psalms was to share his experience of God's grace and salvation with others. This Psalm is very clear- David is saying 'May this be true for you as it was for me'. And this is really the basis of all our witness. It was David who had been answered in his 'days of trouble', and set on high (<a href='B:230 20:1'>Psa 20:1</a>). His desire was fulfilled- for this verse of the Psalm clearly was reapplied to the "day of trouble" of the Assyrian invasion (s:w. <a href='B:290 37:3'>Isa 37:3</a>) and also to the Babylonian traumas of the exiles (s:w. <a href='B:300 16:19'>Jer 16:19</a>; <a href='B:300 30:7'>Jer 30:7</a>; <a href='B:410 1:7'>Nah 1:7</a>; <a href='B:420 3:16'>Hab 3:16</a>). See on <a href='B:20 25:8'>Exo 25:8</a>.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Troubles" is the word used of Jacob's time of trouble (<a href='B:10 35:3'>Gen 35:3</a>; <a href='B:300 30:7'>Jer 30:7</a>; <a href='B:340 12:1'>Dan 12:1</a>). David's experience of trouble was representative of how the exiles and all God's people could ultimately follow the path of Jacob to deliverance out of exile and from his strong enemies. But in <a href='B:230 71:20'>Psa 71:20</a> David sees his deliverance from the day of trouble as ultimately being in the resurrection of the body, being 'brought up again from the depths of the earth'.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is no one like You among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like Your deeds-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is a tacit recognition that there was a tendency to idolatry at David's time; and through this song he teaches against thIsa. His argument is that Yahweh is so great that if there are any other gods around, they are insignificant. Likewise the Lord Jesus didn't state in so many words that demons don't exist; but the scale of His miracles indicated that even if they did they were effectively powerless. See on :10.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>All nations You have made will come and worship before You, Lord. They shall glorify Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was perhaps the greatest example of all the Old Testament figures of wanting to see the conversion of the Gentiles, implicit as it was within the promises to Abraham. And he used his music ministry to try to spread this message. He makes this request in the context of asking for forgiveness (see on :6), and so many of the Bathsheba Psalms feature this desire to use his sin and forgiveness as an opportunity to reach out to the entire world with the message of God's grace for them.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You are great, and do wondrous things-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As discussed on <a href='B:230 71:19'>Psa 71:19</a>, the "great / wondrous things" performed by God were His forgiveness and salvation of a condemned sinner like David (see on :6,9). This is described in <a href='B:230 71:19'>Psa 71:19</a> as God doing "great things", the phrase used of the great things worked in visible miracles in Egypt (<a href='B:230 106:21'>Psa 106:21</a>) and at creation (<a href='B:230 136:7'>Psa 136:7</a>). But the forgiveness of people like David is no less a great miracle. Such great things are done because of His mercy / grace (<a href='B:230 136:4'>Psa 136:4</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You alone are God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :8, this is a tacit recognition that there was a tendency to idolatry at David's time; and through this song he teaches against thIsa.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Teach me Your way, Yahweh; I will walk in Your truth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A passing sense of wonder at the night sky as a man glances at it for a few moments longer than usual one evening from his balcony::. needs to lead to the questions in response to God's questions: Who or what is He? What is His Name, His hope for me, His ability::. how should I respond? And the answers to those questions aren't in nature itself, but in God's word. "You are great and do wonders::. teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in your way" (<a href='B:230 86:10-11'>Psa 86:10-11</a>). The moments of wonder which God affords His creatures aren't intended to lead them into wild speculation; but rather to incite them to seek His revealed truth in His word.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Make my heart undivided to fear Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :12. Again we see a clear faith in God's ability to work directly upon the human heart, giving us a new psychology. This is what we most urgently need, and is what the gift of the Holy Spirit is all about:&nbsp;"Undivided" is literally "one". Perhaps James is alluding here when he warns against having a double heart or mind (<a href='B:660 1:8'>Jas 1:8</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will praise You, Lord my God, with my whole heart; I will glorify Your name forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David has just asked for an undivided heart (:11), and so this promise to praise God with his "whole heart" is not because he considers he has a "whole heart". But he asks for it, and believes he will receive; and vows to give this heart to God.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Your grace is great toward me, You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The undivided heart David has asked for in :11 is because God's grace has been so great to him, in saving him from death. He wanted his heart to be totally full of awareness of God's grace, for ever (:12), far beyond just a passing gasp of gratitude for salvation from death. David believed death was unconsciousness, as we have often noted in the Psalms. Yet he appears to use a common term, "the lowest sheol", meaning the worst kind of death. As with the language of demons, or our usage of English words like "Monday" [moon day], language of the day can be used without actually believing in it.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, the proud have risen up against me; a company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don’t hold regard for You before them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The reference may be to Saul and his men, or to the Absalom conspiracy. See on :6. The implication is that these men were not true believers in God; I noted on :8,10 David's concern that there was idolatry within Israel, and maybe this included Absalom.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But You, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in grace and truth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Mercy and truth" often refer to the promises made to Abraham. David appeals to basics in his desperate straits; the promises to Abraham, and the character of God as revealed to Moses in <a href='B:20 34:4-6'>Exo 34:4-6</a>.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Show me a sign of Your goodness, that those who hate me may see it and be shamed, because You, Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again David is using the prophetic perfect, speaking of future things as if they are already received; for he asks in :17 for urgent attention and mercy from God. His request for some visible sign was in order that his enemies might be "shamed", and perhaps from that shame led to repentance.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm by the sons of Korah; a Song-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"By" can as well be "for", so the Psalm may still be Davidic, but is dedicated to the memory of the sons of Korah. Korah had died in rebellion against God, but his children had been preserved (<a href='B:40 26:9-11'>Num 26:9-11</a>); they therefore became representative of all who had overcome bad background to worship Yahweh independently, regardless of the sins of their fathers. They were therefore inspirational to the righteous remnant amongst the exiles in Babylon. Or these "sons of Korah" may refer to a group of musicians who were to perform the Psalm, the Levitical singers mentioned in <a href='B:130 26:1-2'>1Ch 26:1-2</a>; <a href='B:140 20:19'>2Ch 20:19</a>. Or if we insist on reading "by", it could have been a Davidic Psalm edited and as it were released by a group called "the sons of Korah" during the captivity in Babylon.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>His foundation is in the holy mountains-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Perhaps an intensive plural for the one great mountain, Zion, which he now speaks of in :2. He believes that God has founded Zion, and ultimately she will not be moved. Given the tragic history of the Jerusalem temple and the city itself, this takes some faith to believe.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As discussed on Psalms 78, we wonder whether Yahweh had indeed loved Zion as much as David did. He appears to transfer his own excessive fondness for Zion onto God. For God made it clear to David that He doesn't live in specific geographical locations and sacred spaces, but in the hearts of men. And in Psalms 78 David argued, perhaps too far, that God had rejected Ephraim and Shiloh, and chosen Judah, David and Zion. See on <a href='B:230 78:51'>Psa 78:51</a>; <a href='B:230 78:68-69'>Psa 78:68-69</a>; <a href='B:230 78:72'>Psa 78:72</a>.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>What exactly had God spoken specifically about Zion, given His statements that He doesn't live in specific geographical locations and sacred spaces, but in the hearts of men? See on :2. It could be that this verse is simply a preface for the revelations about Zion which David now makes. But we wonder whether this is actual revelation from God, or just the inspired record of what David wished to be true of Zion. The word for "glorious things", things of "honour", is used of how God honours persons and behaviour rather than geographical locations and spaces:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre and also Ethiopia: This one was born there-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The vision is of the Gentiles from all points of the compass [that appears to be the reason behind the choice of the nations here listed] accepting Zion and being born within her. The Gentiles were to come and dwell in Zion, and this would be a cause of joy to the spiritually minded Israelite (see on :7). This "birth" in Zion may be another way of saying that they were equally Israelite as the ethnic Jews who were born there. God's Israel would be predicated upon spiritual and not ethnic lines.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, of Zion it will be said, This one and that one was born in her; the Most High Himself will establish her-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :4, the birth of Gentiles in Zion is to be understood as their conversion to the God of Israel there in Zion, presumably through visiting the temple which David envisaged being built there and being taught there. The promise to David was that his kingdom and his throne, reigned upon by his great Messianic seed, would be "established" by God eternally (<a href='B:130 17:11-12'>1Ch 17:11-12</a>; <a href='B:130 17:14'>1Ch 17:14</a> s:w:). But he appears to have become over literal and religious in interpreting this as meaning that Zion itself would be eternally established.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh will count, when He writes up the peoples, This one was born there. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that at the final count at judgment day, God would accept as His true people those Gentiles who had been "born" in Zion, who had there made a commitment to His covenant (see on :4,5).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But this had specific potential reference to the restoration. <a href='B:150 2:62'>Ezr 2:62</a> records Judah being ‘reckoned by genealogies’, using the same Hebrew word which is the hallmark of 1 Chron. (4:33; 5:1,7,17; 7:5,7,9,40; 9:1,22). And in this context, <a href='B:290 40:26'>Isa 40:26</a> compares God’s ‘bringing out’ of Judah from Babylon with His ‘bringing out’ the stars by their individual names, all wonderfully known to Him. <a href='B:230 87:6'>Psa 87:6</a> had prophesied something similar about the restoration of Zion’s fortunes: “The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there”. The Kingdom of God was to be the restoration of Israel’s Kingdom- but they had to actually get on and restore it rather than wait for it to come. This is another reason for understanding Ezekiel’s temple as being broadly of the same dimensions as that of Solomon:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of The Suffering of Affliction. A contemplation by Heman, the Ezrahite-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm is clearly by David, probably referring to his illness when suffering for his sin with Bathsheba; there are various parallels with Psalms 22 which is from this background. It is "by" or "for" Heman and the sons of Korah to perform, or perhaps musically arranged by Heman, who appears to have lived in Solomon's time (<a href='B:110 4:31'>1Ki 4:31</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Prayer is part of the atmosphere of spiritual life, not something hived off and separate- it is an expression of our spirit. Thus there are verses which speak of many daily prayers as being just one prayer (<a href='B:230 86:3'>Psa 86:3</a>; <a href='B:230 86:6'>Psa 86:6</a>; <a href='B:230 88:1-2'>Psa 88:1-2</a>); prayer is a way / spirit of life, not something specific which occurs for a matter of minutes each day. The commands to "pray without ceasing" simply can't be literally obeyed (<a href='B:590 5:17'>1Th 5:17</a>). "Watch and pray always" in the last days likewise connects prayer with watchfulness, which is an attitude of mind rather than something done on specific occasions. This is not to say that prayer in no sense refers to formal, specific prayer. Evidently it does, but it is only a verbal crystallization of our general spirit of life.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's first waking moments were naturally of prayer to God. And this is our pattern. He often mentions his habit of regular prayer morning and evening (<a href='B:230 5:3'>Psa 5:3</a>; <a href='B:230 55:17'>Psa 55:17</a>; <a href='B:230 59:16'>Psa 59:16</a>; <a href='B:230 88:3'>Psa 88:3</a>; <a href='B:230 119:147'>Psa 119:147</a>). This&nbsp; should not have to be enforced upon us, but rather the natural outcome of a life lived in constant connection with God. David perceived that the Mosaic ritual of morning and evening sacrifice taught the sacrifice of prayer should be made in daily life, even though at the time of many of the Psalms, David was exiled from the sanctuary. This exile from organized religion led him to make this connection, as it can for us too.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let my prayer enter into Your presence, turn Your ear to my cry-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David imagined the words of prayer as entering into the very presence of God in heaven. This is an awesome conception; that the words of a man at a bus stop in south London can enter to the very presence of God's throne room.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>for my soul is full of troubles, my life draws near to Sheol-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :4. The Lord’s soul was likewise sorrowful unto death in Gethsemane, as if the stress alone nearly killed Him (<a href='B:480 14:34'>Mar 14:34</a>). "My soul is full of troubles, and my life (therefore) draweth nigh unto the grave" (<a href='B:230 88:3'>Psa 88:3</a>). <a href='B:290 53:10-12'>Isa 53:10-12</a> speaks of the fact that the Lord's soul suffered as being the basis of our redemption; the mind contained within that spat upon head, as it hung on that tortured body; this was where our salvation was won. Death is the ultimately intense experience, and living a life dedicated to death would have had an intensifying effect upon the Lord's character and personality.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David sees sheol (:3) as "the pit", the grave, not as a place of conscious existence. Like Job, he feels he is facing imminent death with no helper or comforter.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> they are cut off from Your hand-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Clearly, David sees death as unconsciousness, with no torment nor reward from God at that point. "Set apart" or "cast out" suggests David imagined his corpse amongst others, waiting to be thrown into a hastily dug pit (:5).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David believed death was unconsciousness, as we have often noted in the Psalms. Yet here and in <a href='B:230 86:13'>Psa 86:13</a> he appears to use a common term, "the lowest sheol", meaning the worst kind of death. As with the language of demons, or our usage of English words like "Monday" [moon day], language of the day can be used without actually believing in it. These "depths" are those of <a href='B:230 69:2'>Psa 69:2</a>, another Bathsheba psalm.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your wrath lies heavily upon me; You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again is the language of the Bathsheba <a href='B:230 69:2'>Psa 69:2</a>. He feels he is going to die because of God's wrath. And yet he had earlier rejoiced at the certainty of God's forgiveness and grace. But his faith in forgiveness seems to have wavered, as our does so easily. This was partly because he was so reluctant to accept the consequences of his sin; to endure consequence is not to say that God's wrath is upon us. But David had repeatedly badgered God to remove all consequences, but He was not willing to do so.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have taken my friends from me, You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut in and I can’t escape-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Heb. 'far from me', as in :18. The plea for God not to "be far from me" is common (<a href='B:230 22:11'>Psa 22:11</a>; <a href='B:230 22:19'>Psa 22:19</a>; <a href='B:230 35:22'>Psa 35:22</a>; <a href='B:230 38:21'>Psa 38:21</a>; <a href='B:230 71:12'>Psa 71:12</a>). The emphasis perhaps is to be placed upon David not wanting God to be far from him, seeing that he felt others were 'far' from him (s:w. <a href='B:230 88:8'>Psa 88:8</a>; <a href='B:230 88:18'>Psa 88:18</a>). He accepted his social and psychological isolation from others, but he didn't want God to be likewise far off from him. In the context of the exiles, God was willing to not be 'far off' from the exiles if they repented (<a href='B:290 46:13'>Isa 46:13</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "friends" may be a reference to his great friend, maybe Bathsheba, or Ahithophel. Perhaps it is a reference to a falling out with Bathsheba soon after their sin, and the way that on account of what he had done, David's own relatives ["friends"] turned against him, as did Ahithophel, who was Bathsheba's grandfather. David loved his parents, especially caring for their safe keeping in his wilderness years; only to be forsaken by them (the Hebrew means just that), and to be rejected by his brothers and sisters ("friend"; <a href='B:230 27:10'>Psa 27:10</a>; <a href='B:230 38:11'>Psa 38:11</a>; <a href='B:230 69:8'>Psa 69:8</a>; <a href='B:230 88:18'>Psa 88:18</a>). And yet despite these breakdowns of relationship being totally David's fault, he appears to blame God for it, and doesn't conclude the Psalm with any ascription of praise or contrition.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My eyes are dim from grief; I have called on You daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The dimness of eyesight may refer to a result of a stroke or illness he suffered after the sin with Bathsheba. But it appears to have been brought on by his desperation at not having his prayers answered. Yet those prayers were for the removal of the consequences of his sin, and much of his distress was because he simply could not accept Nathan's prophetic word about the consequences of his sin. And therefore he was not praying according to God's will and word.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Do You show wonders to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise You? Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Did David's faith in the resurrection collapse in <a href='B:230 88:10'>Psa 88:10</a>? Job's did likewise at some points. David asks to be preserved from death so that he can continue praising God. He saw this as the purpose of life and existence. He clearly did not imagine death as meaning going to heaven and singing praises. God does indeed show wonders to the dead believers in resurrection, yet it seems David's faith and understanding in this collapsed temporarily.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Is Your grace declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in Destruction?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The praise David wanted to live in order to offer (:10) was praise of God's grace, righteousness and faithfulness to him (:12). God's forgiveness of his sins of adultery and murder was by grace, seeing he was condemned for these things under the law; but yet God's righteousness was not impugned by that. Paul labours this point throughout Romans 1-8.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Are Your wonders made known in the dark? Or Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :11. Death was the place of forgetfulness in that God has no conscious intercourse with the dead, He does not in that sense remember them (:5). But as noted on :10, it appears that David is overlooking completely the resurrection of the body, in a form which reflects that God has not at all forgotten our essential spirit and personality.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But to You, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :1, David still prays to God even in depression and collapse of faith in resurrection (:10,12). He still has a strong faith that his words actually enter the very presence of God in heaven.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, why do You reject my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The prototype of Christ feeling forsaken was in David feeling forsaken by God when he fled from Absalom (<a href='B:230 42:9'>Psa 42:9</a>; <a href='B:230 43:2'>Psa 43:2</a>; <a href='B:230 88:14'>Psa 88:14</a>); but clearly he was not actually forsaken. In David's case, as discussed on :7, the apparent silence of God was because David was praying for the wrong things- David had repeatedly badgered God to remove all consequences of his sin, but He was not willing to do so. Nathan had spoken to him from God about this, and David just would not accept it.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer Your terrors, I am distracted-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David seems to consider that his life had been one of continual risk of death; from wild animals as a shepherd, from Goliath and the Philistines, from Saul, from Gentile armies, and now from Absalom. He appears to consider God is unfair to him. His complaint about God terrifying him is taken from Job (<a href='B:220 6:4'>Job 6:4</a>; <a href='B:220 9:34'>Job 9:34</a>; <a href='B:220 13:21'>Job 13:21</a>). But although clearly knowing the book of Job well (for David so often alludes to it), he fails to factor in that Job finally realizes that he has not spoken rightly about God. David failed to see the end of the Lord with Job, that He is very pitiful and of tender mercy (<a href='B:660 5:11'>Jas 5:11</a>):&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :16, David was wrong to consider that God was using terrors against him. The words of Job came to mind and he hastily quotes them (see on :16), but without reflection upon the context and final conclusion of Job:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They came around me like water all day long, they completely engulfed me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is another connection with Psalms 22, this time to <a href='B:230 22:16'>Psa 22:16</a> where the same word for "engulfed" is used (see on :1). But the idea of being engulfed by God's terrors is again alluding to the book of Job (s:w. <a href='B:220 19:6'>Job 19:6</a>). But again he fails to factor in that Job finally realizes that he has not spoken rightly about God. David failed to see the end of the Lord with Job, that He is very pitiful and of tender mercy (<a href='B:660 5:11'>Jas 5:11</a>):&nbsp; </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A contemplation by Ethan, the Ezrahite-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"By" can as well be "for"; the author seems clearly to be David, so it may be that Ethan was the one responsible for publishing it or setting it to music.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will sing of the grace of Yahweh forever. With my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm is originally David's reflection upon the promises to him in 2 Samuel 7, and his struggles with believing and understanding parts of them. But it has been reworked by later inspired hands in the context of the exiles, struggling to believe that the Davidic covenant still has meaning. Yet the Psalm is introduced as being about grace. For that is what those promises reveal; and it begins and ends with praise, despite David's struggle with how God was apparently fulfilling them. We can therefore note that David’s greatest insight into the promises was at the time he doubted them the most. Those who have these crises know the love of God in the way that the prodigal son knew it far more than the son who stayed at home, living in obedience each day. And for all his doubts and struggles, David wishes to declare God's faithfulness to all and for all time. And he chose this song to do so.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I indeed declare, Love stands firm forever because You established the skies; Your faithfulness is in them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The solid existence of all creation is seen as evidence enough that the love of God, as expressed through the Davidic covenant, would remain firm likewise. We need only look at the natural creation for evidence that God is going to keep the promises found in the Bible. The same idea is found in :37.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It's hard to know whether this is a direct revelation from God, or whether these words are as it were put in God's mouth by the poetry of the psalmist. David was clearly the "chosen one::. My servant" (<a href='B:230 89:3'>Psa 89:3</a>), but these very terms are applied to Israel as a whole (<a href='B:230 105:6'>Psa 105:6</a>; <a href='B:230 105:43'>Psa 105:43</a>; <a href='B:230 106:5'>Psa 106:5</a>) and to the "servant" of later Isaiah, who refers to both Israel and their Messiah as their embodiment (<a href='B:290 42:1'>Isa 42:1</a>; <a href='B:290 45:4'>Isa 45:4</a>). David's path of sin, repentance and restoration was intended to be that of all God's people, as he himself recognizes in Psalms 32. But the exiles refused to repent and therefore their restoration was precluded. They were not therefore treated as His "chosen one".</p>


text:
<h2>‘</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will establish Your seed forever, and build up Your throne to all generations’. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was true, but only if his seed had the characteristics of David. As noted on :3, David's path of sin, repentance and restoration was intended to be that of all God's people, as he himself recognizes in Psalms 32. But the exiles refused to repent and therefore their restoration was precluded. And so the eternal establishment of his throne didn't come true as it could have done at the time of the exiles.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The skies will praise Your wonders, Yahweh; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is a reference to the court of Heaven. Although the exiles on earth couldn't see the progression of God's purpose according to His covenant with David, the Angels in heaven perceived it and rejoiced. And our perspective is to be theirs.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Here again we seem to have a criticism of idolatry. The idols are often not baldly stated to be non-existent, but rather Yahweh is so highly exalted and powerful that effectively they have no real existence. Likewise the Lord Jesus didn't specifically state that demons don't exist; rather the supreme power of His miracles showed that effectively they don't, as they have no real power even if they do exist. Idolatry was an abiding problem in Israel at David's time, and also at the start of the exile, as Ezekiel makes clear.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around Him?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The awesome nature of the court of heaven is stressed, into which we have a glimpse in 1 Kings 22. God has a "council", discussing His plans with the Angels. This is because although the exiles on earth couldn't see the progression of God's purpose according to His covenant with David, the Angels in heaven perceived it and rejoiced. And our perspective is to be theirs.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one like You? Yah, Your faithfulness is around You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Angels around the throne in :7 are here equated with God's faithfulness. They would surely bring about the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant, in their time and way. The apparent lack of fulfilment of the covenant was not therefore because of any inability on God's part; which leaves the implication that it was due to failure on Israel's part on earth.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You rule the pride of the sea; when its waves rise up, You calm them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As so often in the Psalms, in times of doubt and depression concerning why God doesn't come through as we think or hope He should, thoughts turn to how God has acted mightily in the past, and the Red Sea deliverance is the favourite of the psalmists; and of how His constant activity is seen in the natural creation. If He rules the sea, thought by the ancients to be the home of mysterious powers and Satan-like monsters, then how much more can He control the movements of the nations, represented by the seas.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain. You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :9, the appeal is to the fact that God had destroyed the might of Egypt ("Rahab") and scattered the tribes of Canaan. Faith continues that He can do the same again with Babylon.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and its fullness; You have founded them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The fact that "the earth is the Lord's" is used to highlight the wonder of the fact that therefore how much moreso do His people belong to Him, and are cared for by Him with such sensitivity (<a href='B:20 19:5'>Exo 19:5</a>; <a href='B:50 10:14'>Deu 10:14</a>; <a href='B:230 50:12'>Psa 50:12</a>; <a href='B:230 89:11'>Psa 89:11</a>). Just as the eretz / earth / land promised to Abraham is Yahweh's, so is in fact the entire planet (<a href='B:230 24:1'>Psa 24:1</a>), and His purpose was perceived by David as incorporating the entire planet and not just Israel. The 'founding' of the physical planet is compared to how God has 'founded' Zion <a href='B:290 14:32'>Isa 14:32</a>). Zion had apparently been removed; but that meant that it must be founded again eternally. But the response of the exiles was to think that if Zion had been removed, then God's purpose was over. They failed to appreciate that just as Abraham was promised eternal inheritance of the land but didn't receive that in his lifetime, so likewise the fulfilment of God's promises requires a future time of restoration and resurrection.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The north and the south, You have created them; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "North and the west", which would better fit Tabor and Hermon as the great mountains of the west and north. AV "shall rejoice::." reflects faith that finally the land and kingdom would be restored, and rejoice instead of mourning.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have a mighty arm, Your hand is strong and Your right hand is exalted-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God's apparent inaction was never to be interpreted as meaning that He was too weak to fulfil His purpose. God's power remains permanent and ultimate, even in the face of our defeats and before death itself. Again, the logic of this demands that the apparent lack of progress with God's purpose isn't due to any deficiency on His part; and therefore it means that we are the reason for that lack of progress.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; grace and truth go before Your face-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Never should Israel think that because the throne of David was apparently cast down, so therefore was God's throne. His throne is eternal, and before His face, always in His awareness, is "grace and truth", a phrase often used of His promises to Abraham and David:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim You; they shall walk in the light of Your face, Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David often asks for forgiveness and restored fellowship with God in terms of walking again in the light of God's face. As noted above, his path of repentance and restoration was to be that of the exiles; if they acclaimed God in repentance, which the exiles generally didn't. </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In Your name they rejoice all day. In Your righteousness, they are exalted-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again alludes to how David was forgiven for his sins through the imputation of God's righteousness. The exiles were to follow his path to restoration; and like David, rejoice in this imputation of righteousness. But they refused.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You are the glory of their strength. In Your favour, our horn will be exalted-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea of the horn of the righteous being exalted is used about what David envisaged happening for God's people in this life (s:w. <a href='B:230 148:14'>Psa 148:14</a>), although the final fulfilment was to be at the last day, when the horn of the wicked is cut off (<a href='B:230 75:10'>Psa 75:10</a>). But there are potential foretastes of the last day in this life. Jeremiah appears to struggle with the Psalms which taught that the horn of the righteous would be lifted up, lamenting that instead the horn of their enemies had been lifted up (s:w. <a href='B:310 2:17'>Lam 2:17</a>). The truth was that the horn of God's people would only be lifted up if they were identified with the lifting up of the horn which was Messiah (<a href='B:230 89:17'>Psa 89:17</a>; <a href='B:230 89:24'>Psa 89:24</a>). And because this didn't happen, their horn was not exalted.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For our shield belongs to Yahweh; our king to the Holy One of Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may be commentary upon the fact that the Davidic line had been temporarily overthrown. God was the ultimate king of Israel, and so there was no need to think that Israel were left without a king. "Shield" is a metaphor for "king" (as in <a href='B:230 47:9'>Psa 47:9</a>). Even in exile, Israel were not without a king who would protect them.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Then You spoke in vision to Your saints and said, I have bestowed strength on the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The bestowal of strength refers to David (<a href='B:230 20:2'>Psa 20:2</a>; <a href='B:230 21:5'>Psa 21:5</a>). The "chosen man" (AV) is clearly David (<a href='B:230 78:70'>Psa 78:70</a>; <a href='B:230 89:3'>Psa 89:3</a>; <a href='B:110 8:16'>1Ki 8:16</a>). The "saints" or "holy one[s]" who were told of the choosing of David were the Angels in the court of heaven (see on :5-7), and was reflected upon earth by Samuel the prophet being told to choose and anoint David whilst still a young man. We appear to have here the record of a vision given to Samuel, on the basis of which he went seeking for David to anoint him:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Samuel appeared to have assumed that Eliab must be Yahweh's anointed, seeing he was tall and handsome (<a href='B:90 16:7'>1Sa 16:7</a>). But he had not learnt the lesson he should've learnt from his experience with Saul, who was exceptionally tall, and yet was no true leader of God's people. God tries to remind Samuel of this by saying of Eliab: "I have rejected him"; God had used the very term about Saul very recently (<a href='B:90 16:1'>1Sa 16:1</a>; <a href='B:90 16:7'>1Sa 16:7</a> RV). <a href='B:230 89:19-20'>Psa 89:19-20</a> imply that God had specifically told Samuel to anoint David- so his desire to anoint tall, handsome Eliab appears to have been a failure on Samuel's part, rooted in simply not joining the dots. And even when David was brought in, Samuel seems to have somewhat failed in his judgment- for he was impressed by David's fair appearance (<a href='B:90 16:12'>1Sa 16:12</a>), when God had just laboured the point to Samuel that the choice of a ruler was not to be based upon his appearance (<a href='B:90 16:7'>1Sa 16:7</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>However, the account of this "vision" about David then goes on later to repeat and expand parts of the promises to David given to him by Nathan the prophet in 2 Samuel 7. So it could be that here we are being given an account of a vision given to Nathan which included parts of what Samuel had been told. Or it could be that we are reading here the inspired commentary of the psalmist upon those visions, which are largely unrecorded in the historical records.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have found David My servant, I have anointed him with My holy oil-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Bible reveals that God is in search of man. "Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel" (<a href='B:350 9:10'>Hos 9:10</a>); "He found him in a desert land:::he encircled him, he cared for him" (<a href='B:50 32:10'>Deu 32:10</a>); "I have found David my servant" (<a href='B:230 89:20'>Psa 89:20</a>). Jeremiah's search for believers was a reflection of God's: "Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth" (<a href='B:300 5:1'>Jer 5:1</a>). God hunts for us like a lion, Job came to realize; and in this "You show yourself wonderful to me" (<a href='B:220 10:16'>Job 10:16</a>). And we are searching for God. God is not indifferent to our searching for Him. Those awestruck moments of wonder, of radical amazement, are where God finds us at the time we are searching for Him. Both sides are seeking each other; and in those moments, they meet. As a Jewish poet put it: "And going out to meet thee / I found thee coming toward me". In those moments, heaven and earth kiss each other. There is a click, a flash, between Almighty God and us- as we stand at a bus stop, turn left into Acacia Avenue, lay there on our bed meditating.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>with whom My hand shall be established; My arm will also strengthen him-</p><h2>This hand of God made a specific branch "strong". This branch was the Lord Jesus (<a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>; <a href='B:300 23:5'>Jer 23:5</a>; <a href='B:450 3:8'>Zec 3:8</a>; <a href='B:450 6:12'>Zec 6:12</a>). The psalmist perceives that the restoration will come through an individual Messianic figure, who would as it were be a spiritual reincarnation of the historical David. There were various possible potential fulfillments of this, such as Zerubabbel and Joshua, but they all let the baton drop. The final fulfilment is therefore in the Lord Jesus, who allowed Himself to be made strong by God's hand (s:w. <a href='B:230 80:17'>Psa 80:17</a>). Whilst His utter moral perfection was in a sense His own achievement, and that must never be taken away from the Lord, the path there involved allowing God to make Him strong for Himself. And this is our pattern too, in allowing the work of the Holy Spirit to do likewise with us, paralleled here with God's hand being upon us, making us strong. The prophecy could have had an earlier fulfilment in Hezekiah, 'made strong by Yah', but he too disallowed it and went off to this present world. The lead characteristic of Jacob was that he and his descendants would be 'made strong' (s:w. <a href='B:10 25:23'>Gen 25:23</a>), even though they were so spiritually weak. So many times Israel are encouraged to be "of good courage", s:w. "made strong" (<a href='B:50 31:6-7'>Deu 31:6-7</a> etc:), so that they might inherit the promised kingdom. But they generally didn't make use of this potential strengthening. The exiles likewise were potentially "made strong" but they refused to make use of that, remaining in Babylon for the most part (s:w. <a href='B:290 35:3'>Isa 35:3</a>; <a href='B:290 41:10'>Isa 41:10</a>).</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>No enemy will tax him, no wicked man will oppress him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The initial reference was to the terrible taxation of Saul, which David avoided through killing Goliath (<a href='B:90 17:25'>1Sa 17:25</a>). The reminder is that despite this interpretation or implication of the promises to David, the "wicked man" Saul did indeed "oppress" him; for these phrases are used throughout the wilderness Psalms about Saul. But the point was, the Davidic covenant did come finally true for David, despite periods when apparently it failed for him. And the exiles were bidden likewise look to the end of things, rather than demand immediate and constant experience of God's promises coming true in this life. This is a lesson for all those tempted to believe the "prosperity Gospel".</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again only came true for David in the longer term and not immediately. Absalom and Saul both died from being 'struck down' but this was only after they had appeared to be in the ascendancy over David. And so it was to be true for all in covenant relationship with God:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But My faithfulness and My grace will be with him; in My name, his horn will be exalted-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It was in this exaltation of the Messianic horn that the horn of the people would be exalted (s:w. :17). There existed even in these earlier days the idea of being "in Christ", the Messiah, and those in Him being blessed with the experience of His exaltation and glory. But the various possibilities of a Messiah figure in the period of the restoration all came to nothing. Knowing this openness of God, women like Hannah clearly hoped and prayed that their sons would be Messiah (<a href='B:90 2:10'>1Sa 2:10</a> = <a href='B:230 89:24'>Psa 89:24</a>); for they perceived that God’s purpose was open to such a thing. But finally the fulfilment was to come in the person of the Lord Jesus, after all the other potential fulfillments had let the baton drop:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will set his hand also on the sea and his right hand on the rivers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The rivers" can be understood as an intensive plural, referring to the great river, Euphrates. From the sea to the Euphrates was the territory promised to Abraham. The fulfilment of the Davidic covenant was to be understood as involving the complete fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham. This didn't happen in David's time, but this was the promise. We appear to have here an extension of the promises to David, perhaps given to the psalmist by direct revelation from God, although the promises recorded in 2 Samuel 7 are alluded to and expanded.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will call to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation!’<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Lord Jesus appears to allude to this in calling God his Father and his God (<a href='B:500 20:17'>Joh 20:17</a>); hard proof against the "Jesus = God" theology of Trinitarians. We note too the need for salvation of David's Messianic seed; hardly appropriate if that seed were to be God Himself:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will also appoint him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The fulfilment of the Davidic covenant was to be primarily in a person, who would rule over all kings and would be God's firstborn; the first child He ever had. <a href='B:100 7:12-14'>2Sa 7:12-14</a> implies this would have to be through a woman in David's line becoming pregnant not from man but from God Himself, through His Spirit. And this was to have ultimate fulfilment in the virgin birth (<a href='B:490 1:31-35'>Luk 1:31-35</a>). But the exiles focused instead upon a visible restoration of the Davidic throne and kingdom before their eyes at that time. We too must be Jesus centered more than Kingdom centered. Otherwise we too will start to complain that God appears not to be coming through for us personally in this life. </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will keep My grace for him forever. My covenant will stand firm through him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles were complaining that the Davidic covenant wasn't being fulfilled in their experience. But they failed to perceive that it required the appearance of a Messianic seed for this covenant to be realized in practice. And those who might have partially fulfilled it in their time (especially Zerubbabel) had all failed. The fulfilment was to be "through him" and not simply through the exile being ended.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will also make his seed endure forever and his throne as the days of heaven-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again the point is made as on :28, that the Davidic covenant didn't promise immediate blessing for the kingdom of David. It was primarily focused upon an individual seed of David who would have an eternal throne; and personal blessing and salvation was only to be found through association with this seed, becoming "in Him". See on :24.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>If his children forsake My law and don’t walk in My ordinances-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have noted on :24,28,29 that the blessings of the covenant were to come particularly and specifically upon the singular seed of David; blessings for the rest of Israel would depend upon their association with this seed. This is why the promises about the seed in the singular (the Lord Jesus) are now applied to God's people in the plural (<a href='B:100 7:14'>2Sa 7:14</a> cp. <a href='B:230 89:30-35'>Psa 89:30-35</a>). This is now realized through baptism into the Lord Jesus. Baptism is not an initiation into a church. It isn't something which just seems the right thing to do. And even if because of our environment and conscience, it was easier to get baptized than not- now this mustn't be the case. We really are in Christ, we are born again; now we exist, spiritually! And moreover, we have risen with Him, His resurrection life, His life and living that will eternally be, is now manifest in us, and will be articulated physically at the resurrection.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But this plan of salvation through identification with the seed was conditional. Both he personally and those "in him" had the possibility of sinning and thereby nullifying the covenant. And the exiles had done just thIsa. We note that the Lord Jesus had the possibility of sinning [otherwise His temptations were fake]. This again disproves any idea that He was God Himself in person.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>if they break My statutes and don’t keep My commandments-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The covenant was broken (:34 s:w:) because they had broken the laws which were part of that covenant. The law repeatedly stated that if Israel didn't keep God's commandments, they would be exiled from their land (<a href='B:30 20:22'>Lev 20:22</a> s:w:). After centuries of patience with them, this finally happened. Any complaint at the consequence for sin was therefore unreasonable. It would be as unreasonable as Adam complaining that he had been exiled east of Eden.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the development of the clause about David's individual seed in 2 Samuel 7 : "If he [Jesus] commit iniquity::.". Here in Psalms 89, the individual seed is spoken of as the community. There are many connections with Isaiah 53, in this case to the way that "the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all". The Lord Jesus was so identified with the sinful seed of Abraham and David that He bore the curse for their sins, despite being personally innocent.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>then I will punish their sin with the rod-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the equivalent of "I will chasten him with the rod of men" in 2 Samuel 7. Ultimately this connection between the singular seed and the community of God's people led to the Lord's death on the cross: "For the transgression of my people was he stricken" (Isaiah 53).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And their iniquity with stripes-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the equivalent of "And with the stripes of the children of men" in 2 Samuel 7, resulting in the final truth of what was achieved on the cross: "With his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The point of all this is to show how our sins were somehow born by Jesus, to the extent that He suffered for them. But how was this actually achieved? It is one thing to say it, but we must put meaning into the words. I suggest it was in that the Lord&nbsp; so identified with us, His heart so bled for us, that He felt a sinner even though He of course never sinned. The final cry “My God, why have You forsaken me?” clearly refers back to all the many passages which speak of God forsaking the wicked, but never forsaking the righteous. The Lord, it seems to me, felt a sinner, although He was not one, and thus entered into this sense of crisis and fear He had sinned. He so identified with us. In the bearing of His cross, we likewise must identify with others, with their needs and with the desperation of their human condition</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> and this is what will convert them, as the Lord’s identification with us saved us.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But I will not completely take My grace away from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have noted on :31,32 that the promises of 2 Samuel 7 about the singular seed of David are interpreted as applying to the entire community of God's people, and therefore the singular in 2 Samuel 7 is changed to the plural here in Psalms 89. But now there is a reversion to talking about "him", the singular seed. He personally would always receive God's faithful covenant grace; and the implication is that God's sinful people must therefore identify with Him. We now do this by baptism into the Lord Jesus, but until He came, it was impossible for God's people to make this connection with the seed.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will not break My covenant, nor alter what My lips have uttered-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "profane my covenant". The covenant was broken (:31 s:w:) because they had broken or profaned the laws which were part of that covenant. But there had been no change on God's side, as they perhaps imagined. God on His side had not broken covenant. Their complaint that He had broken covenant (:39 s:w:) was completely overlooking that it was they and not Him who had broken the covenant. The exiles are specifically described as breaking the covenant in <a href='B:460 2:10-11'>Mal 2:10-11</a> s:w. We note the intimacy of God in saying that the covenant was uttered by His "lips". The words of the covenant were from His very mouth and liPsa.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie to David-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>To claim that God has broken His side of the covenant is tantamount to calling God a liar. This is what we are doing if we doubt our ultimate salvation. Paul seems to have this in mind in his reasoning in <a href='B:520 3:3-7'>Rom 3:3-7</a>. The fact some like the exiles didn't want to believe Him doesn't make Him a liar, because His promises to them weren't experienced by them. That was their choice, and they as it were put God in the dock and accused Him of being a liar. And in the revelation of God's final judgment, all who have done so will be revealed as liars.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>His seed will endure forever, his throne like the sun before Me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The emphasis is upon "will". The promises to David will come true. His Messianic seed would indeed have an eternal throne and kingdom. The fact that was not being immediately fulfilled in the experience of the exiles at their time didn't mean that God was a liar (:35) or incapable of doing what He has said. Rather the problem was with the exiles, in that they didn't want to believe that at some point, fulfilment would come. A demand that God's promises must come fully true for us in this life is really a lack of faith in His future Kingdom. Faith in the things of the Kingdom and the name of the Lord Jesus is faith in a future reality as well as a present one. If all the focus is upon our immediate blessing, then like the exiles we will have a crisis of faith.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The solid existence of all creation is seen as evidence enough that the love of God, as expressed through the Davidic covenant, would remain firm likewise. We need only look at the natural creation for evidence that God is going to keep the promises found in the Bible. The same idea is found in :2.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But you have rejected and spurned, You have been angry with Your anointed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may originally have begun with David in depression feeling that although he had been anointed king, his persecution by Saul and later by Absalom indicated that God had changed His plans. These thoughts of David are now developed by the exiles and exaggerated and expanded to refer to the breaking up of Zion.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have renounced the covenant of Your servant; You have defiled his crown in the dust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The covenant was broken (:31 s:w:) because they had broken or profaned the laws which were part of that covenant. But there had been no change on God's side, as they perhaps imagined. God on His side had not broken covenant. Their complaint that He had broken covenant (:39 s:w:) was completely overlooking that it was they and not Him who had broken the covenant. The exiles are specifically described as breaking the covenant in <a href='B:460 2:10-11'>Mal 2:10-11</a> s:w.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have broken down all his hedges, You have brought his strongholds to ruin-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The vineyard of Israel was indeed broken down by God and its protective wall removed by Him (Isaiah 5). But this was because they had refused to bring forth fruit to Him, and had themselves introduced the Gentiles into that vineyard, worshipping their idols in His temple. The complaint against God focuses upon the consequences of sin, rather than recognition of sin and repentance.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>All who pass by the way rob him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same word for "rob" is used to the exiles in warning them that even the restored Jerusalem is to fall and the houses robbed (<a href='B:450 14:2'>Zec 14:2</a>). God's purpose with David's seed was no guarantee that in this life, that seed would not suffer. The exiles were refusing to understand that what they were complaining about was merely the consequence of their sins, and not due to God's unfaithfulness. These same exiles had been reminded that they had committed fornication with all those who "pass by the way" (s:w. <a href='B:330 16:15'>Eze 16:15</a>; <a href='B:330 16:25'>Eze 16:25</a>). It was as if they had hardened their hearts against all these prophetic messages.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He has become a reproach to his neighbours-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm may have originated in David's complaint that he had become a reproach to his neighbours and family after his sin with Bathsheba (s:w. <a href='B:230 22:6'>Psa 22:6</a>; <a href='B:230 31:11'>Psa 31:11</a>). But such complaints were a wilful disregard for Nathan's prophetic word to David about the consequence of his sins. And it seems that the exiles were making the same mistake in refusing to accept that their situation was a result of consequence of sins.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries, You have made all of his enemies rejoice-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This seems an intentional repost to the statement in :13 that God's own right hand is exalted (s:w:). The exiles refused to see that God's hand can be exalted even in His apparent silence; and went further to imply God was being somehow vindictive and unreasonable. This is the classic mistake made by all who stumble at the problem of evil.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword and haven’t supported him in battle-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This however was exactly what was promised as a consequence of breaking the covenant. Israel had signed up to that, and God had been patient in bringing those consequences for centuries. And when it came, finally, they accuse Him of hating them. Again, all stumbling over the problem of evil results is rooted in a denial of the consequences of human sin [whether it be our own or the sin of others]. And as a result, God ends up being falsely accused.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have ended his splendour, and cast his throne down to the ground-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again fails to factor in the reality that God can fulfil His promises at a later date, even through resurrection from the dead. Abraham died in full faith that the promises to him would be fulfilled at the resurrection, although he didn't receive them in this life (<a href='B:650 11:13'>Heb 11:13</a>; <a href='B:650 11:39-40'>Heb 11:39-40</a>). But the exiles didn't have this faith; they considered God was only any good if they had it all now. And they went further to almost mock God when they didn't get what they expected, with no account of their own sins and the consequence of sin. They also failed to consider that David's throne was the throne of Yahweh; and He remained enthroned as king in heaven, with the earth [s:w. "ground"] as His footstool (<a href='B:290 66:1'>Isa 66:1</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have shortened the days of his youth, You have covered him with shame. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "the days of his throne". This reflected a total lack of faith and wilful lack of understanding of the fact that the promises of an eternal throne depended upon the revelation of the individual Messianic seed of David. He had not come at that point, but the exiles still demanded the blessings promised to Him:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How long, Yahweh? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The answer was that God had hidden His face from His people because they had hidden their faces from Him. They were as Cain, exiled from Eden [the promised land] to the east, hidden from God's face (<a href='B:10 4:14'>Gen 4:14</a>). This was the specific curse for breaking the covenant (<a href='B:50 31:17'>Deu 31:17</a>). <a href='B:290 40:27'>Isa 40:27</a>; <a href='B:290 45:15'>Isa 45:15</a> specifically rebuke the exiles for saying that "My way is hid from Yahweh", because they should rather have faith that ultimately God's face would in due time shine forth. It was their sins which had hidden God's face from them (<a href='B:290 59:2'>Isa 59:2</a>; <a href='B:300 33:5'>Jer 33:5</a>; <a href='B:330 39:23'>Eze 39:23</a>; <a href='B:400 3:4'>Mic 3:4</a>). Again there is a focus simply upon removing the consequence of sin, rather than repenting of sin.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Remember how short my time is! For what vanity have You created all the children of men!<strong>- </strong></p><h2>This may well have been based upon an original prayer of David, lamenting the brevity of his life as in <a href='B:230 39:5'>Psa 39:5</a> (s:w:). But the exiles are reasoning as if this life is all we have; and therefore to not see the restoration in their lifetime was tragic. And they considered God somehow cruel to not bring about the restored kingdom in their lifetimes. Because life is short, they therefore expected Him to act very quickly; or else, they accused Him of creating people for "vanity". This is the kind of unreasonable talk which comes from all who stumble over the problem of evil. David's perspective was that it is "men of the world" who have "their portion [s:w. "short"] in this life" (<a href='B:230 17:14'>Psa 17:14</a>). The exiles were totally devoid of the hope of resurrection and final fulfilment then. This lack of faith in the things of the future Kingdom of God, sometimes encouraged by theological misunderstandings, is often at the root of stumblings over the problem of evil. If the perception is that man only has this life, then the problems of evil within that life will indeed weigh heavy, as life then appears a mere lottery, with some people getting a better deal than others:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>What man is he who shall live and not see death, who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This continues the false argument of :47; that because life is short and there is only hope for this life and no further, therefore God should hurry up and restore their kingdom. David's temporary crisis of faith in God's power to resurrect is repeated by the exiles, in stronger terms. They seem to have no sense of any future fulfilment of the covenant; they wanted to see it all now, just as many do today.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is in the context of God promising David eternity that he questions: "Shall He (God) deliver his soul from the grave? What man is he that liveth and shall not see death?" (AV). He goes so far as to feel that God's "former graces (a word often used about the promises), which You swore to David" had been at best suspended (<a href='B:230 89:49'>Psa 89:49</a> AV).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Lord, where are Your former graces which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Surely David is close to the edge here; there almost seems to be a sense of mocking in his comments on the promise that his throne would endure for ever as the sun: "His throne (shall endure) as the sun::. but::. Thou hast cast his throne down to the ground", rather than it being like the sun (<a href='B:230 89:36'>Psa 89:36</a>; <a href='B:230 89:44'>Psa 89:44</a> AV). Yet truly in the spirit of Job, he was able to praise God in this very same context: "Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and amen" (<a href='B:230 89:52'>Psa 89:52</a>). Presumably this Psalm was written (or thought out) whilst fleeing from Absalom, or possibly during one of the later rebellions, when it seemed that all hope of holding on to the throne was lost. Here is David in depression, making hasty comments about the faithfulness of God, reacting to the position of the moment. This is surely an indication of his mental make up. One cannot be persuaded that the Lord Jesus did not experience the temptations which go along with this kind of personality. "My God, why have You forsaken me?" (<a href='B:470 27:46'>Mat 27:46</a>) and the following thoughts in Psalms 22 seem to be Christ's equivalent of David's crisis in Psalms 89:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the language of earlier Psalms concerning how David so took to heart the words of his enemies at the time of Saul and Absalom's rebellion. But his feelings are now reapplied by the exiles to the taunts of the "peoples", the Gentiles, such as those recorded in <a href='B:230 137:1-3'>Psa 137:1-3</a>.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>with which Your enemies have mocked, Yahweh, with which they have mocked the footsteps of Your anointed one-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "wherewith they have reviled the recompense of thine anointed" could imply that David's enemies mocked the promises to David as now having no chance of fulfilment. And the exiles felt that the mocking of their captors in Psalms 137 was a mocking of David, seeing they considered themselves to be his seed. Their "steps" may refer to their steps from Judah to Babylon, mocked at every step:&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>These things had application to the Lord Jesus, the "Christ", the "anointed one", who bore Israel's judgment. Every step of the way along the Via Dolorosa, Yahweh's enemies reproached every stumbling footstep of His anointed, just as they did every step of Judah as they were marched into captivity.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Book IV </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Prayer by Moses, the man of God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggest this is inserted at this point in the Psalter because it is being used in the context of the exiles. Although Psalms 89 is in book 3 of the Psalms and Psalms 90 begins book 4, there are connections between the two Psalms; not least <a href='B:230 89:47-48'>Psa 89:47-48</a> = <a href='B:230 90:3-10'>Psa 90:3-10</a>. This prayer of Moses is an appeal for God to rethink His condemnation of Israel to not entering the promised land, and to the 40 year period of exile from it before they could enter it. This of course meant that the generation which had left Egypt would die without entering the land. And Moses seeks to change God's mind about this, just as he had changed God's mind about His intention to destroy Israel completely; and just as Moses sought to have his own rejection from entering the land abrogated. This was exactly relevant to the exiles, who wanted the 70 years exile to be shortened, and for their generation to reenter the land and see the restoration of the Kingdom of God there. As noted on <a href='B:230 89:47-48'>Psa 89:47-48</a>, they did not want to die before seeing this happen. But as Moses' intercession for these things was not answered as he wished, so the exiles were to largely die in exile. Psalms 91 however is connected to Psalms 90, and speaks of how the salvation of Israel was to be through Joshua - Jesus. This was the answer to Moses' struggle and for that of the exiles.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion may be to Moses' words that God was the safe dwelling place of Israel (<a href='B:50 33:27'>Deu 33:27</a>). Joshua is commended for making Yahweh his dwelling place (<a href='B:230 91:9'>Psa 91:9</a>). But He was not the point of refuge for Israel in all their generations, in that they had chosen other gods.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is a repeated Biblical theme that the believer's relationship with the Father too is essentially mutual. For example, we dwell in God (<a href='B:230 90:1'>Psa 90:1</a>), and He dwells in us (<a href='B:530 3:16'>1Co 3:16</a>). Thus "he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him" (<a href='B:690 4:15-16'>1Jn 4:15-16</a>). We respond to God's call of us by calling upon Him (<a href='B:530 1:2'>1Co 1:2</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Before the mountains were brought forth, before You had formed the land and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We are reading here the "prayer" of Moses (:1). But these opening verses make it clear that prayer is meditation before God, and not simply requests. "Brought forth::. formed [Heb. 'give birth to']" suggests that the world was formed out of God. The idea of literal creatio ex nihilo isn't Biblical. This world is made out of God and is therefore not separate from Him. Man is not alone; we aren't cut adrift from our creator. God is so closely with us. He isn't far from every one of us. The fact God is in Heaven and we on earth doesn't mean He is far from us. In human terms, spatiality means apartness; but not for God, who fills Heaven and earth. His being in space and time breaks in to our experience of space and time. Note too that God is perfect / complete in and of Himself; He didn't "need" us. But He created us and then speaks as if He does in some sense "need" us. The point is, creation was an act of grace. All complaints at the seeming injustice and suffering of creation miss this point. Note too that "brought forth" implies God as a mother / female. His nature is such that He is able to identify with both male and female.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You turn man to destruction saying, Return, you children of men-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:230 90:3'>Psa 90:3</a> implies that each person dies as a result of a conscious, specific command from God; not just because of natural processes. The specific reference is to God's command that Israel were to die in the wilderness. Moses is begging God to change this judgment; hence LXX "Turn not man back to his low place, whereas thou saidst, Return, ye sons of men".</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And yet the allusion is also to the curse in Eden; it is as if God speaks <a href='B:10 3:19'>Gen 3:19</a> to each person who dies. In this sense the Bible is a living word; the Red Sea and other salvations of God are as it were performed in an ongoing sense to us each one today. Likewise Abel "is yet spoken of" (<a href='B:650 11:4'>Heb 11:4</a> AVmg:):The passage in the scrolls that said "I am the God of Abraham" was "spoken unto you by God", Jesus told first century Israel (<a href='B:470 22:31'>Mat 22:31</a>). And so Moses really provides his own answer. He is desperate for the 40 year condemnation period to be changed so that he and his generation could enter Canaan. But in fact they were all going to return to the dust anyway, in accordance with <a href='B:10 3:19'>Gen 3:19</a>. And the conclusion really is that our focus ought to be upon a resurrection from the dead, rather than seeking some kind of kingdom now.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For a thousand years in Your sight are just like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night- </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Was Moses right to imply that God forgets about His creatures, just as we sleep through the night watch unaware of its passing? Psalms 90 is Moses' prayer asking for God's judgment against Israel and himself in the wilderness to be changed. He had reasoned with God and changed His earlier decision to destroy Israel and make of Moses a great nation. But this prayer of Moses went unanswered- "speak no more unto Me of this matter" (<a href='B:50 3:26'>Deu 3:26</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>However, this Psalm is an example of how intimate a man can become with God. Moses pleads that man only lives 70 years, maybe 80- so, cut us some slack, God, and reverse our judgment (<a href='B:230 90:10'>Psa 90:10</a>). He waxes very poetic and eloquent about our humanity. But fails to persuade God. And he also rather oddly seems to ignore the fact that he was blessed with 120 years of life with his youthful vigour unabated. He describes our return to dust as being a result of God's wrath and anger (<a href='B:230 90:3'>Psa 90:3</a>; <a href='B:230 90:7'>Psa 90:7</a>)- suggesting some resentment at God's judgment of man in Genesis 3, just as Moses resented how God had judged him and Israel. He argues that they had already suffered quite enough evil in Egypt (<a href='B:230 90:15'>Psa 90:15</a>) and asks if God can't give that generation just a little joy in life.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:230 90:4'>Psa 90:4</a> could be seen as Moses arguing 'You've got eternity; we only have a delicate, fragile, grief-filled 70 years. So please, relent on your idea of filling all our human lives with grief by not letting us into the promised land'. <a href='B:230 90:8'>Psa 90:8</a> sounds like Moses objected to God scrutinizing our "secret sins", and <a href='B:230 90:11'>Psa 90:11</a> speaks as if God's anger and wrath were just too much. He clearly had a problem accepting the justice of God's punishment against sin, as did the exiles; hence this prayer wasn't answered. But it's the intimacy with God, that a man feels he can speak like this to God, which is the exhortation.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You sweep them away as they sleep; in the morning they sprout like new grass-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "Years shall be vanity to them: let the morning pass away as grass". Moses is complaining that the 40 years of wandering would just be wasted years of vanity. But that is indeed what condemnation will be like, and Moses and the exiles (in different contexts) all come over as railing against consequence of sin, rather than focusing upon repentance and the final fulfilment of God's purpose. The language here is that used of the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea (<a href='B:230 77:17'>Psa 77:17</a> is the only other occurrence of "You sweep them away"), where "in the morning" the Egyptians were dead (<a href='B:20 14:24'>Exo 14:24</a>; <a href='B:20 14:27'>Exo 14:27</a>) and had to be replaced by a new generation ["new grass"]. Moses is complaining that the condemned generation were being treated like the Egyptians slain at the Red Sea. But that was indeed appropriate; for in their hearts they had returned to Egypt, and Ezekiel records that they had taken the idols of Egypt with them through the Red Sea. But again, the consequence of sin is focused upon, rather than admission of sin:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the morning it sprouts and springs up; by evening, it is withered and dry-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Indeed this is the case. Moses seems to be arguing that the condemned generation would have a tragically vain life experience, as if they were grass which grew up in the morning and then was dead by evening. But this therefore leads the condemned sinner [which is all of us] to a desire for forgiveness and resurrection to eternity. But that connection isn't made here as the prophets intended it to be made.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But all this is interpreted in <a href='B:660 1:11'>Jas 1:11</a> so positively. If we are indeed so fleeting and weak, then don't worry about getting rich. Don't trust in man nor in wealth. Because man is so weak. Likewise in <a href='B:230 90:12'>Psa 90:12</a> - numbering our days, realizing their brevity, will help us get a heart of wisdom.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For we are consumed in Your anger, we are troubled in Your wrath-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God had earlier wanted to "consume" Israel, but the intercession of Moses had stopped this (<a href='B:40 16:21'>Num 16:21</a>; <a href='B:40 16:45'>Num 16:45</a> s:w:), as did that of Phinehas (<a href='B:40 25:11'>Num 25:11</a> s:w:). The threat of being "consumed" by God's anger was part of the covenant Israel had made with Him (s:w. <a href='B:50 28:21'>Deu 28:21</a>). They were suffering the agreed consequence of sin, and yet Moses presents this as being unreasonably harsh (:6). And so Moses' request was not answered, at least not as he then desired. For God did indeed "consume" Israel with vanity, a vanity they themselves had chosen (s:w. <a href='B:230 78:33'>Psa 78:33</a>). But this was only after vowing to "consume" them both in Egypt and in the wilderness, and then He had relented out of pure pity and grace for them (<a href='B:330 20:13-14'>Eze 20:13-14</a>; <a href='B:330 20:21-22'>Eze 20:21-22</a>). He had relented multiple times before; but Moses was not allowed this time to cash in on that. And this was true of the exiles, whom God also "consumed" for their sins (s:w. <a href='B:300 5:3'>Jer 5:3</a>; <a href='B:300 9:16'>Jer 9:16</a>; <a href='B:300 14:12'>Jer 14:12</a> and very often). o</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your face-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Moses perceived that Israel [and his?] rejection from the land wasn't just due to one incident, but because of their secret sins being viewed by God. Moses himself had been often in the light of God's countenance. David in his penitential Psalms concerning Bathsheba and Uriah likewise at times perceives that there were many other sins involved than "just" adultery and murder.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is not Moses reproaching God; rather is it him soberly recognizing why they were barred from the land. Notice "our iniquities::. our sins". Moses was completely at one with condemned Israel, he knew exactly how they felt- just as the Lord Jesus with us. It is a fundamental, if neglected, doctrine that the Lord Jesus was our representative. This really ought to be a source of comfort to us, as we sense the involvement of the Son of God in our lives, one who can truly empathize (rather than just sympathize) with our spiritual struggle. This is so clearly taught by the typology of Moses as a type of Christ. Although he spoke to God as a friend, with an open-faced relationship, he still took upon himself the sin of Israel, he felt as condemned as they felt (<a href='B:20 34:9'>Exo 34:9</a> cp. <a href='B:20 33:11'>Exo 33:11</a>); when he pleaded for God's sentence on him to be lifted, he pleaded for the same sentence on Israel to be lifted too (<a href='B:230 90:8'>Psa 90:8</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So here in Psalms 90 Moses pleads for his rejection and that of his people to be reversed. He says that the reason for their rejection was God setting their "secret sins" in the light of His countenance. He felt his rejection was due to his secret sins- not the one painfully public failure. The Hebrew for "secret" means 'that behind the veil'; it is from the same root as the Hebrew for 'young girl', i:e. a veiled one. He felt the sins he had committed behind the veil he wore before Israel had been exposed in the light of the Angel's face. Remember that Moses always appeared to Israel with a veil (<a href='B:20 34:33-35'>Exo 34:33-35</a>; <a href='B:540 3:16-18'>2Co 3:16-18</a> RV), only removing it when he spoke face to face with the Angel, radiating the light of God's glory to him. It seems Moses is alluding to this in <a href='B:230 90:8'>Psa 90:8</a>; he felt that he had many secret sins of the heart, hidden to Israel, but completely open to the Angel when he met with him. Likewise Israel were rejected because of the sins of their heart rather than their grosser failures (<a href='B:510 7:39'>Act 7:39</a>; and see the reason for their condemnation given in many other passages).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For all our days have passed away in Your wrath, we bring our years to an end as a sigh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Bring::. to an end" is s:w. "consumed" in :7; see note there. It seems Moses is making this prayer towards the start of the forty years wandering and exile from the land. Otherwise there would be little point in begging for the judgment to be reversed. So he may be speaking imagining how things would be at the end of the period; their days would have been wasted in vanity, coming to an end with a sigh of regret. But he fails to see the possibility of being resurrected to eternity in a future, restored Kingdom situation.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"As a sigh" is AV "As a tale that is told", perhaps a reference to the tradition of giving a summary of the deceased's life at their funeral? <a href='B:290 53:8'>Isa 53:8</a> laments that this wasn't done at the death of Messiah. The idea perhaps is that as it takes a mere 20 minutes to summarize a person's life, so in the context of infinity, that is indeed how brief it Isa.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The days of our years are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty years-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Lifespans were still relatively long at Moses' time; his father Amram apparently lived to over 130 years, and Moses to 120. The mention of 70 years may have been the result of an edit by the exiles, lamenting that the 70 years of exile from the land would be pointless living; just as Moses had complained about the 40 years of exile from the land at his time.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "As for the days of our years, in them are seventy years; and if men should be in strength, eighty years: and the greater part of them would be labour and trouble; for weakness overtakes us, and we shall be chastened". The idea is that there is just no point in life if they could not enter the land. Normally, we would prefer to die at 80 rather than 70. But in the context of the argument here, if they weren't going to enter the land, then living another ten years in exile was vanity and worthless.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet their pride is but labour and sorrow, for it passes quickly, and we pass away-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Labour and sorrow" is the phrase translated "iniquity and perverseness" (<a href='B:40 23:21'>Num 23:21</a>), which initially God saw in the wilderness generation, but did not count against them. But they chose to live in it, and so they were made to live like that for 40 years. The same phrase is used of how the exiles chose to live in "mischief and iniquity" (<a href='B:290 59:4'>Isa 59:4</a>), and so their glory flew away (s:w. "pass away") as a bird (s:w. <a href='B:350 9:11'>Hos 9:11</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Who knows the power of Your anger, Your wrath according to the fear that is due to You?<strong>- </strong></p><h2>David could be saying that God's anger was incomprehensible, out of proportion to the sin committed, too much wrath for Israel not showing Him enough fear. And of course he would have been wrong in thIsa. Or it could be that he is musing that according to our perceptions of God we will be judged. God's mercy is upon us according as we trust in Him. And His wrath according as we fear it, Moses appears to be saying. The way the servant was judged out of his own mouth, with the Lord being the kind of "hard man" he thought He was (<a href='B:470 25:24'>Mat 25:24</a>), is surely the principle of <a href='B:230 90:11'>Psa 90:11</a> AV: "Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath" (in practice).</h2>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The condemned generation knew that within 40 years they would be dead. And so they could number their days. But the time to be wise had passed; they had chosen not to be, hence the lament: "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" (<a href='B:50 32:29'>Deu 32:29</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX presents this as a another plea for God to become active in the salvation of His people immediately, rather than after the 40 years wandering: "And who knows how to number his days because of the fear of thy wrath? So manifest thy right hand". This would suggest that numbering days was pointless because they were under God's wrath. They were indeed, but instead of pestering God to change their condemnation, the focus instead might have been upon confession of sin and hope in the resurrection of the body to the restored Kingdom at the last day.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on Your servants!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the "How long?" asked by the exiles so often in the Psalms. They wanted immediate restoration, just as Moses wanted the 40 year period to be cut short. This 'prayer of Moses' (title) is lamenting how Israel were being destroyed by the Angel as they wandered in the forty year period of punishment. It may even be that the Angel left Israel in a sense (hence "Return O Lord") although still leading them. Thus there are different degrees of the Angelic presence- as at the restoration the Angel did in a limited sense return to the temple, having left them when the cherubim departed from Zion (as Ezekiel records).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet Moses clearly believed that this period of decreed punishment could be shortened ("satisfy us early with Thy mercy") by the Angel repenting. Previously his prayers had succeeded in making the Angel repent of the evil that He had planned to do to Israel, and Moses evidently hoped the Angel would again repent:&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Relent" is s:w. <a href='B:20 32:12'>Exo 32:12</a> "Turn from Your fierce wrath". <a href='B:230 90:11'>Psa 90:11</a> has just spoken of God's fierce wrath. Moses' hope was always that God would "repent" if He perceived the depth of Israel's suffering (<a href='B:50 32:36'>Deu 32:36</a> "The Lord will repent Himself for His servants when He sees that their power is gone"]. "Return" may also be a request for God's presence to return again to the tabernacle rather than being outside it. All this was exactly what the exiles were asking; and yet they failed to focus upon the fact they had sinned, failed to give much emphasis to repentance, and seem more concerned about the immediate removal of the consequence of sins, rather than looking ahead to the last day.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Satisfy us in the morning with Your grace, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>AV has "satisfy us early", i:e. 'reduce the time period of judgment upon us, and let us enter the land'. Or [Heb:], Moses may be asking for an answer "in the morning", immediately, right after his night of prayer.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The thoughts of Moses here were reflected in the exiles; but they all failed to perceive that they had been judged less than their sins deserved (<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>). Whereas the reasoning here seems to be that God needs to as it were put right what He did in judging His people. The "afflicted" years would refer to the entire sojourn in Egypt (s:w. <a href='B:10 15:13'>Gen 15:13</a>; <a href='B:20 1:12'>Exo 1:12</a>). But this "affliction" was intended to bring them to repentance (<a href='B:110 8:35'>1Ki 8:35</a>; <a href='B:230 119:67'>Psa 119:67</a>; <a href='B:230 119:71'>Psa 119:71</a>). The affliction could therefore be ended by repentance; but instead of that, there is simply a demand that God simply overturn the consequence of sin.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let Your work appear to Your servants-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But God's work had appeared to them all, but they had chosen to disbelieve it (s:w. <a href='B:230 95:9'>Psa 95:9</a>); and the phrase is used of how the exiles had done likewise and were therefore in exile (<a href='B:290 5:12'>Isa 5:12</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your glory to their children-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Moses desired that God’s glory would “appear</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> upon / unto” the children of God’s servants. He wanted all God’s children to have the same experience of glory appearing to them as he had had. And according to <a href='B:540 3:18'>2Co 3:18</a>, this desire is fulfilled every time a man turns to the Lord Jesus, and like Moses, with unveiled face, beholds that same glory. In the immediate context, he wanted the visible glory of God to appear not just to him in his separate tabernacle, but to all God's people. For as explained on :17, the Angel of glory no longer was going in their midst (<a href='B:20 33:3'>Exo 33:3</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This follows on from Psalms 90, where Moses had begged for God's condemnation of the wilderness generation to be abrogated, and for that generation to enter the land. It was the same plea of the exiles; they didn't want to wait the required 70 years in exile, as the wilderness generation didn't want to wait 40 years. The answer from God is here in Psalms 91. He speaks about Joshua as one of the very few who would not perish in the wilderness, and bids all Israel follow his example. It all has relevance to the Lord Jesus; for "Jesus" is the Greek form of "Joshua". In the context of the exiles, the Joshua the High Priest of Zechariah's prophecies could have been a Messiah figure who would have led the exiles back to Judah. But he failed, as did Zerubbabel, and so the prophecy was rescheduled and reapplied to the Lord Jesus.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Joshua dwelt in the tabernacle where Moses met with God, "without the camp" of Israel. This was "the secret place", where the word was spoken (see the connections between the "secret" place and God's word: <a href='B:220 15:8'>Job 15:8</a>; <a href='B:220 29:4'>Job 29:4</a>; <a href='B:230 25:14'>Psa 25:14</a>; <a href='B:240 3:32'>Pro 3:32</a>; <a href='B:290 45:19'>Isa 45:19</a>; <a href='B:340 2:18'>Dan 2:18</a>; <a href='B:370 3:7'>Amo 3:7</a>). It was because of this love of the word that Joshua was preserved in those wilderness years, as the bodies of his peer group were abandoned in mass graves in the Sinai scrub: "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee". Joshua calmly looked at those sights, knowing whom he had believed: "Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see (i:e. meditate upon) the reward of the wicked" (<a href='B:230 91:7-8'>Psa 91:7-8</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Joshua had been charged to be strong, of good courage, not fearful nor be dismayed. Yet he had a tendency to forget those charges, the implications of his having been called by God for a purpose; and needed to be reminded of them as he forgot or lost faith in them. Perhaps this is why he is an otherwise surprising omission from the list of faithful men and women in Hebrews 11. And here of course is the challenge to us. We too have been given commissions and callings. Whether it be to raise a Godly family, to establish an ecclesia in a certain place, to overcome a specific vice</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> the obstacles will flee before us, every place where the soles of our feet rest, will be blessed</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>if we truly believe in God’s purpose with us. Yet like Joshua, we usually fail to have a full faith in thIsa. We get distracted by the views of others, peer pressure, worried by lack of resources, discouraged by setbacks; when it is belief in God’s most basic initial promises to us that will overcome them. Joshua’s fear is all the more reprehensible when we consider the testimony of Psalms 91. Here Moses speaks about Joshua, the one who dwelt in the secret place or tabernacle of God (<a href='B:230 91:1'>Psa 91:1</a> = <a href='B:20 33:11'>Exo 33:11</a>), and who therefore was miraculously preserved throughout the wilderness wanderings. Thousands of Joshua’s generation died at his side from the various plagues which wasted out his generation during those wanderings; but they never came near him (<a href='B:230 91:5-8'>Psa 91:5-8</a>). As a result of this, he was commanded by Moses to “not be afraid” (<a href='B:230 91:5'>Psa 91:5</a>); perhaps Moses was thinking specifically about peer pressure, with the assurance that truly God would hear Joshua’s prayers (<a href='B:230 91:14-15'>Psa 91:14-15</a>). His amazing preservation during the wilderness years ought to have instilled a faith and lack of fearfulness within him; and yet the implication is that he did very often fall prey to fearfulness in later life. Just as with us, the circumstances of earlier life are controlled by the Father to give us faith with which to cope with later crises; but we don’t always learn the lessons we are intended to.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will say of Yahweh, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was the attitude which God wished to see from Joshua in his own self talk; and if others in Israel had displayed this, they too would not have perished in the desert but would have lived to enter the land. And yet only twice does Joshua use the phrase "my God" or "my Lord". It seems that he didn't fully live up to these things.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It has been observed that this Psalm has an "antiphonal arrangement- the first speaker delivering <a href='B:230 91:1-2'>Psa 91:1-2</a>; the second, <a href='B:230 91:3-4'>Psa 91:3-4</a>; then the first responding with <a href='B:230 91:5-8'>Psa 91:5-8</a>; and again the second with <a href='B:230 91:9-13'>Psa 91:9-13</a>. In conclusion, a third speaker, making himself the mouthpiece of Jehovah, crowns all by declaring the blessings which God himself will bestow upon his faithful ones (<a href='B:230 91:14-16'>Psa 91:14-16</a>)". The Psalm was to be recited, because every man was intended to follow Joshua's intended pattern.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles were intended to follow Joshua's example. For the Babylonian captivity was "the snare of the fowler" (<a href='B:230 124:7'>Psa 124:7</a>). The plague is that of :6, which destroyed many of the wilderness generation but didn't touch Joshua.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will cover you with His feathers, beneath His wings you will take refuge; His faithfulness is your shield and rampart-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It would be as if Joshua was located beneath the wings of the cherubim, over the blood of atonement, and beneath the shekinah glory of God seen between the cherubim. This was the intimacy with God which was possible for him. He would be shielded by God from all the plagues which slowly wiped out the wilderness generation. But this promise of being covered with God's wings and feathers was equally to all God's people who chose to go the way of faith of Joshua and Caleb (<a href='B:20 19:4'>Exo 19:4</a>; <a href='B:50 32:11'>Deu 32:11</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The terror at night may refer to marauding tribes of Bedouin who attacked the Israelites and also contributed to the destruction of the wilderness generation. The arrow of the day time would be the arrows of God, even if they were shot by the Bedouin, as in <a href='B:220 6:4'>Job 6:4</a>.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>nor of the plagues that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the destruction threatened for those who break covenant (s:w. <a href='B:50 32:24'>Deu 32:24</a>). The plagues were personified as stalking in the dark. But equally at noonday they were to be destroyed by the plagues. LXX "from ruin and the demon of the midday" perhaps refers to sunstroke. Whatever belief in demons the people held, the simple truth was that God destroyed the wilderness generation; all was under His absolute control. There is no radical evil in the cosmos. The exiles were comforted likewise in <a href='B:230 121:6'>Psa 121:6</a>, "The sun shall not smite you by day". They were to follow the path intended for Joshua, and earnestly believe they could participate in the restored kingdom of God:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A clear reference to how the wilderness generation fell dead, those whom Joshua knew well, those at his side. Sometimes a thousand fell, other times ten thousand. But his life was to be preserved.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that Joshua would look at the corpses of the slain amongst his fellows, and reflect that this was the recompense for their wickedness. And that wickedness was essentially their unbelief that they would enter the Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Because you have made Yahweh your refuge and the Most High your dwelling place-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The stress is upon "you"; Joshua would not fall and be slain because of his unbelief, because he had in faith focused upon the things of Yahweh. Not simply in having faith that Israel could easily enter the promised land, but in his subsequent choice to live in the tabernacle, to dwell in God's presence.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This seems to look back to <a href='B:220 5:19'>Job 5:19</a>: "He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee". Psalms 91 is Moses' encouragement to Joshua that the destroying Angel in the wilderness would not harm him, but he would be protected by the Angels who would "keep you in all your ways" (:11). Thus Moses may have seen <a href='B:220 5:19'>Job 5:19</a> to be talking about evil brought by Angels of evil (<a href='B:230 78:49'>Psa 78:49</a>)- i:e. Job's satan Angel who brought the trials, as discussed at length on Job 1. "Your dwelling" would refer to the tabernacle "without the camp" where Joshua lived.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For He will put His angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Instead of the Angels bringing plagues of death upon Joshua, as did upon the wilderness generation after the pattern of what they did in Egypt, instead the Angels would guard him. The Psalm describes how Joshua was miraculously preserved from the punishments which befell his generation in the wilderness; thousands fell at his side from the various plagues sent to waste away his peer group. But he was preserved. It is in this context we read that the Angels would be given charge over him, lest he dash his foot against a stone during that wilderness journey (<a href='B:230 91:11-12'>Psa 91:11-12</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet these words were understood by the Lord Jesus as relevant to Him personally, when He was in the wilderness (<a href='B:470 4:6'>Mat 4:6</a>). The Lord Jesus clearly saw Joshua as a type of Himself. The double application of Psalms 91 to both Joshua and Jesus makes Joshua a potential Messiah. He and the High Priest Joshua at the time of the restoration could have been Messiah figures; but they failed to rise up completely to thIsa. So Joshua is not simply a type of the Lord Jesus. Rather were the potentials possible for him, which he didn't totally fulfil, reapplied and rescheduled to the Lord Jesus.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Guard" is the same word used in <a href='B:10 3:24'>Gen 3:24</a>, and thus alludes to the Angels keeping&nbsp; men in the way to the tree of life- not only physically but spiritually preserving them. The figure of dashing the foot against a stone suggests the idea of spiritual stumbling against a "rock of offence" or stumblingstone (s:w. <a href='B:300 13:16'>Jer 13:16</a>, of how the exiles refused this potential help and did stumble). The Angels bore up the Lord Jesus to help Him avoid these. But only because He Himself wished for that strength, and avoided the temptation He faced to abuse it and wrongly use it.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>they will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :11. God was willing to "bear up" Israel and bring them into the land / kingdom (s:w. <a href='B:50 32:11'>Deu 32:11</a>). But only Joshua and Caleb made use of that. Nothing need have caused them to stumble. And the same is true for us. But we need to want that, whereas Israel in their hearts turned back to Egypt:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You will tread on the lion and cobra, you will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The treading underfoot of the adder must have a connection with Genesis 3; the seed of the woman trampling sin underfoot. This conquest of sin by Jesus was therefore partly due to Angelic strengthening of Him (see on :11,12). Through them "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself", making Christ a sin-offering for us. There are also connections with the restoration prophecies of Isaiah, which speak of these wild animals being subdued. But again, the exiles didn't want this; just as it seems the full potential of these things was not realized by Joshua.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The prophecy about Christ personally that He would tread upon snakes and wild animals (<a href='B:230 91:13'>Psa 91:13</a>) is quoted as being fulfilled in the disciples, who ‘were’ Christ on their preaching mission (<a href='B:490 10:19'>Luk 10:19</a>; <a href='B:480 16:18'>Mar 16:18</a>). In Old Testament times, God described His whole people as His anointed one, His Christ: “The Lord is a strength unto his people, and he is the saving strength of his anointed” (<a href='B:230 28:8'>Psa 28:8</a> RVmg:). The whole people were His anointed King, His Messiah, the anointed one. And so it is for all those today who are “in Christ”.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The ‘devil’ of the Lord’s own nature tempted Him to apply <a href='B:230 91:11'>Psa 91:11</a> in a wrong context, and jump off the pinnacle of the temple. But if the Lord had gone on, as surely He did, He would have found the words: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet” (<a href='B:230 91:13'>Psa 91:13</a> AV). This promise would have been of wonderful comfort, as throughout the wilderness temptations the Lord “was with the wild beasts” (<a href='B:480 1:13'>Mar 1:13</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Because he has set His love on Me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known My name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This implies that our love of God is expressed in seeking to appreciate His name. To know Him is to love Him, and to want to be like Him; there is something compulsive and magnetic about who He Isa. The knowledge of God elicits quite naturally a merciful spirit (<a href='B:350 6:6'>Hos 6:6</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But it seems that :13-16 speak of potentials which Joshua personally didn't fully realize. But they did come true of the Lord Jesus. It is therefore not the full picture to just say that "Joshua was a type of Christ". He was, but the connection is also in the fact that what Joshua didn't realize, the Lord Jesus did. And the fulfilment therefore came about in even more wonderful terms; for the Lord Jesus was "set on high" through exaltation to Heaven and being made prince of the kings of the earth, and being delivered from death through resurrection.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will call on Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again, this only partially came true for Joshua, and was fulfilled above all in the deliverance and honour of the Lord Jesus. The exiles failed to make use of these potentials, as it seems Joshua didn't fully either. "Troubles" is the word used of Jacob's time of trouble (<a href='B:10 35:3'>Gen 35:3</a>; <a href='B:300 30:7'>Jer 30:7</a>; <a href='B:340 12:1'>Dan 12:1</a>). David's experience of trouble was representative of how the exiles and all God's people could ultimately follow the path of Jacob to deliverance out of exile and from his strong enemies. But in <a href='B:230 71:20'>Psa 71:20</a> David sees his deliverance from the day of trouble as ultimately being in the resurrection of the body, being 'brought up again from the depths of the earth'.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm A song for the Sabbath day-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm was intended for usage on the Sabbaths. "Jewish tradition says that it was sung in the morning at the time of the drink offering of the first lamb". But much of the language is used in Psalms of David, and so it seems it originated with him.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh, to sing praises to Your name, Most High-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is in contrast to the complaint that it was profitless to keep the Sabbath (<a href='B:460 2:15'>Mal 2:15</a>). The Sabbath was understood here as intended for praise.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>to proclaim Your grace in the morning and Your faithfulness every night-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Proclaiming" or showing forth praise of God's ways is what David did in this life (<a href='B:230 71:17-18'>Psa 71:17-18</a>; <a href='B:230 92:2'>Psa 92:2</a>; <a href='B:230 92:15'>Psa 92:15</a> and often). But he imagines himself doing so "forever" (<a href='B:230 75:9'>Psa 75:9</a>). This is an example of how we can live the eternal life now, acting now as we shall eternally do in the Kingdom. It is in this sense that the Lord Jesus in John's gospel offers eternal life right now; even though we shall die and only enter eternity at the resurrection of the body. This Psalm was specifically for the Sabbath (:1), and perhaps David saw the Sabbath as a foretaste of the future Kingdom of God. Those in Israel who despised it and broke it were therefore not interested in living the Kingdom life now. "Grace and::. faithfulness", or "mercy and truth", is a phrase often used about the promises to Abraham. These were the basis of the new covenant, and it was these which should be praised on the Sabbath. But we note that David speaks of doing so "every night", as if implying that the spirit of Sabbath praise should be lived out every day.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>with the ten-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>stringed lute, with the harp, and with the melody of the lyre-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Very clearly the style and language of David (see on :1,4).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You, Yahweh, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "me" is clearly David (see on :1), but he wishes all men to share his relationship with God. The idea of the Sabbath (:1) was to rest from human works in order to accept the saving power of God's work (<a href='B:650 4:3-4'>Heb 4:3-4</a>; <a href='B:650 4:10'>Heb 4:10</a>). Hence on the Sabbath especially, it was appropriate to triumph in God's work and not our own.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How great are Your works, Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again the emphasis is upon praising God's works on the Sabbath rather than our own; see on :4. God's works and His thoughts are paralleled here (as in <a href='B:230 40:5'>Psa 40:5</a>; <a href='B:240 16:3'>Pro 16:3</a>). Thoughts are therefore our "way" of life in practice (<a href='B:290 55:7'>Isa 55:7</a>). This is because thought and action are understood as essentially the same; hence the sermon on the mount condemns thoughts of sin as if they are the sin itself.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A senseless man doesn’t know, neither does a fool understand this-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet David admits that temporarily, he had been like this himself (s:w. <a href='B:230 73:21'>Psa 73:21</a>). The fact is, even those as spiritual as David can at times be totally unspiritual in their perspective, and like him need to take a grip and return to reality. We surely have all known thIsa.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>though the wicked spring up as the grass and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The apparent prosperity of the wicked is a major issue, so much so that this weekly Sabbath liturgy (:1) mentioned it. The same concern is found in Job (<a href='B:220 21:7-21'>Job 21:7-21</a>) and Asaph (<a href='B:230 73:2-15'>Psa 73:2-15</a>). But their flourishing is presented here as being a prelude to their being cut down; they grow up quickly, but so as to be cut down at the last day.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But You, Yahweh, are on high forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The problem of the apparent prosperity and high exaltation of the wicked (:7) is resolved by reflecting that it is Yahweh who is ultimately exalted, and He will be so eternally. The "height" of God is a common reflection of David in the Psalms.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For, behold, Your enemies, Yahweh, for, behold, Your enemies shall perish; all the evildoers will be scattered-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David often talks about the perishing [s:w:] of his enemies (<a href='B:230 9:3'>Psa 9:3</a>; <a href='B:230 9:6'>Psa 9:6</a>; <a href='B:230 41:5'>Psa 41:5</a>; <a href='B:230 143:12'>Psa 143:12</a>). But here in <a href='B:230 92:9'>Psa 92:9</a> he speaks of them as God's enemies. He considers his enemies to be God's enemies. That may well have been true, seeing that God did indeed become the enemy of Saul, who was clearly the great enemy of David in his earlier life (<a href='B:90 28:16'>1Sa 28:16</a>). But we must sound a caveat; because it can be that those within the body of believers whom we consider our enemies are in fact loved by God. We cannot automatically assume in times of inter-personal strife that our enemies are also God's enemies. Likewise our enemies' friend is not always our enemy, and our enemies' enemy is not always to be our friend.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; I am anointed with fresh oil-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The talk of being anointed is clearly relevant to David as the anointed king under persecution; but this is a generic psalm for the Sabbath, to be used in the liturgy every week (see on :1). We are bidden see David as our representative; and indeed we too are anointed in that we are in Christ, the anointed one (<a href='B:540 1:21'>2Co 1:21</a>). Just as all Israel were to see themselves as somehow "in" David. David is here quoting from Hannah's prayer (<a href='B:90 2:10'>1Sa 2:10</a>). He appropriates her words to himself personally, and now bids all Israel apply them to themselves every Sabbath. Hence "our horn shall be exalted::. his horn shall be exalted" (<a href='B:230 89:17'>Psa 89:17</a>; <a href='B:230 89:24'>Psa 89:24</a>):&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My eye has also seen my enemies, my ears have heard of the wicked enemies who rise up against me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is, "see my desire on my enemies", as AV. Remember that this is part of a Sabbath liturgy, to be used every week (:1). David assumes that every man will have "enemies" just as he does, and that we also hear of others are rising up against us. Perhaps the Psalm was written at the time of his persecution by Saul or Absalom, who 'rose up against' David. He speaks in the past tense, so certain is he that his desire will be fulfilled. And yet we wonder why every Sabbath, men were to gloat over the fact their enemies amongst God's people would be destroyed, and to reflect upon their "desire" for that. We would rather imagine that the Sabbath was a time to rest from all such thoughts. Often, “desire” is seen by God as prayer (<a href='B:230 10:17'>Psa 10:17</a>; <a href='B:230 21:2'>Psa 21:2</a>; <a href='B:230 27:4'>Psa 27:4</a>; <a href='B:230 59:10'>Psa 59:10</a>; <a href='B:230 92:11'>Psa 92:11</a>; <a href='B:230 140:8'>Psa 140:8</a>; <a href='B:230 145:19'>Psa 145:19</a>; <a href='B:470 18:32'>Mat 18:32</a>; <a href='B:520 10:1'>Rom 10:1</a>; <a href='B:690 5:15'>1Jn 5:15</a>). God interprets that inner desire as prayer, even if it is not articulated in specific requests.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is in contrast to the temporary flourishing of the wicked (see on :7). The implication therefore is that the righteous will eternally flourish, whereas the wicked only do so for a moment. The righteous are to be upright as the cedar and palm trees, because Yahweh is upright (<a href='B:230 92:12'>Psa 92:12</a>; <a href='B:230 92:15'>Psa 92:15</a>). This is why bearing the name of Christ is in itself an imperative to witness it. The same words are used here as in David's vision of how Solomon's kingdom would be in <a href='B:230 72:7'>Psa 72:7</a>: "In his days, the righteous shall flourish". In <a href='B:230 92:11-12'>Psa 92:11-12</a>, David thinks that he himself will see the righteous flourishing (s:w. <a href='B:230 72:7'>Psa 72:7</a>). So he may be imagining that he would somehow be resurrected and see this happening in Solomon's reign. His hope will come ultimately true, but through the kingdom of the Lord Jesus and not Solomon.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They are planted in Yahweh’s house, they will flourish in our God’s courts-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again the present tense is used for the future, so certain is David that his prayer will be heard. This liturgy was for the weekly Sabbath celebrations in the temple (:1); but the hope of the righteous is that they will not just come into the courts of the sanctuary once every week, but live and flourish there eternally. Ideally, such regular meetings of God's people should be foretastes of the eternal experience of the Kingdom.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They will still bring forth fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Old age" in secular life is a grim acceptance that our fruitfulness and vitality are passed. But in spiritual terms, we live in "newness of life" through the work of the Spirit. We are to be spiritually fruitful till the day we die:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh reigns!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Literally, 'has become king'. Perhaps this Psalm is David's reflections at the time when he became king, realizing that Yahweh is the true king of Israel.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established to stand firm, so that it can’t be moved-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The solid kingship of Yahweh is contrasted later in the Psalm with the swelling of the waters against Him. David felt this to be appropriate to himself, for when he became king he was surrounded by surges of opposition.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your throne is established from long ago; You are from everlasting-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David is humbly reflecting that his throne is in fact God's. And that throne has always been, and is certain. Any opposition to him was therefore ultimately going to fail, so long as he retained his perspective- that he was reigning on God's throne and not his own, as God's agent, and not as king himself purely in his own right and name.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea of a "throne" is of judgment. God is now enthroned as judge (<a href='B:230 93:2'>Psa 93:2</a>; <a href='B:470 5:34'>Mat 5:34</a> “the heaven is God’s throne”). We are now inescapably in God’s presence (<a href='B:230 139:2'>Psa 139:2</a>); and ‘God’s presence’ is a phrase used about the final judgment in <a href='B:600 1:9'>2Th 1:9</a>; <a href='B:720 1:24'>Jud 1:24</a>; <a href='B:730 14:10'>Rev 14:10</a>. Hence “God is [now] the judge: he putteth down one and setteth up another” (<a href='B:230 75:7'>Psa 75:7</a>) – all of which He will also due at the last day (<a href='B:490 14:10'>Luk 14:10</a>). The essence of judgment is ongoing now; “we make the answer now”. God’s present judgment is often paralleled with His future judgment. Thus “The Lord shall judge the people::. God judges [now] the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day::. he will whet his sword; he has [right now] bent his bow, and made it ready” (<a href='B:230 7:8'>Psa 7:8</a>; <a href='B:230 7:11-13'>Psa 7:11-13</a>). We are come now “to God the judge of all” (<a href='B:650 12:23'>Heb 12:23</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The floods have lifted up, Yahweh, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :1, the floods and waves represent the opposition of peoples to God's rulership. David, as king on Yahweh's throne, faced huge opposition from the house of Saul to his kingship, as well as many later challenges to it. But he took comfort that all this swelling of peoples was as nothing against the eternal Kingship of God which he represented.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, Yahweh on high is mighty-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :1,3, this refers to the "voice" of the opposition to David's kingship. He was particularly sensitive to words, as so many of his Psalms indicate. The allusion is to how the waters of the Red Sea were totally under God's control (<a href='B:20 15:10'>Exo 15:10</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, You God to whom alone vengeance belongs, You God to whom vengeance belongs-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggest this began as a Psalm of David pleading for vengeance against Saul and / or Absalom's group, which under inspiration was then reused by the exiles in their pleas for vengeance against Babylon. The stress that vengeance belongs to God was of course a major theme with David, in that he refused twice to take Saul's life when he easily could have done- because vengeance belongs to God and not man. And likewise it was stressed to the exiles that vengeance upon the Gentiles who had abused them belonged to God, and they were to pray for the time of His vengeance to come:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Shine forth-</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A request for the shining forth again of God's glory from between the cherubim (s:w. <a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>); even though the ark seems to have been lost during the captivity.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Rise up-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is a repeated Biblical theme that the believer's relationship with the Father too is essentially mutual. David lifts himself up to God (<a href='B:230 25:1'>Psa 25:1</a>; <a href='B:230 28:2'>Psa 28:2</a>; <a href='B:230 86:4'>Psa 86:4</a>), and asks God to lift up Himself in response (<a href='B:230 7:6'>Psa 7:6</a>; <a href='B:230 10:12'>Psa 10:12</a>; <a href='B:230 94:2'>Psa 94:2</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You judge of the earth, repay the proud what they deserve-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again is in line with the note on :1, that God and not man is the judge who will repay the proud. And yet Israel had been punished far less than their sins deserved (<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>), and this desire for their abusers to receive precisely what they did, to be punished as their sins deserved, seems to reflect a lack of appreciation of that grace.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This really had the answer "How long will it be before you exiles repent and desire to return to your God as well as to your land?". The truth was that they had gone into exile because they had 'triumphed' in their wickedness (s:w. <a href='B:300 11:15'>Jer 11:15</a>). But it had its basis in David's wondering whilst persecuted by Saul "how long" before he would become king.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers boast-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmists adopt God's perspective, that the essence of sin is pride, and the greatest sin of Israel's abusers was their pride and boasting. Whilst this complaint is obviously relevant to the Babylonians, the words are used by David about the proud and arrogant words of those within Israel (<a href='B:230 31:18'>Psa 31:18</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They break Your people in pieces, Yahweh, and afflict Your heritage-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is clearly relevant to the actions of the Babylonians (s:w. <a href='B:310 3:34'>Lam 3:34</a>):But it was true also of David's enemies within Israel, especially Saul (<a href='B:230 143:3'>Psa 143:3</a>). The truth is that the exiles were broken because they had broken each other in pieces (<a href='B:290 3:15'>Isa 3:15</a> s:w:). Yet that brokenness was intended to bring forth the humility which would enable them to repent and be restored (s:w. <a href='B:290 57:15'>Isa 57:15</a> "contrite"). And it was the suffering servant as representative of Israel who was broken, as their representative (s:w. <a href='B:290 53:5'>Isa 53:5</a>; <a href='B:290 53:10'>Isa 53:10</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This went on at the time of the Babylonian invasion, as Jeremiah's Lamentations testify to. But we wonder whether the psalm had its origin with David lamenting similar behaviour from Saul and his men. The reference to "the alien" would be hard to understand in a Babylonian context. But if done by Saul, it would show a conscious disobedience to the spirit of the Law of Moses, which required that aliens be treated with the utmost respect.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They say, Yah will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was the subconscious attitude of Saul and David's persecutors within Israel. Whilst they may not have said these words, it was a fair summary of the implications of their positions and actions. But it's quite likely that the Babylonians actually said this in so many words. But David's frequent plea for Yahweh to awake from sleep and hear, as if He were deaf, is not far off the same attitude of those who acted as if God were blind or willfully closing His eyes.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Among the people" may mean that the people being criticized were amongst God's people; they were warned that He who even disciplines the Gentiles (:10) will even moreso judge His own people. The question "When will you be wise?" suggests a strong desire in David [at this point] that his persecutors repent; although often he simply wishes them dire condemnation.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He who implanted the ear, won’t He hear? He who formed the eye, won’t He see?-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles needed to be reminded of this, as they had the impression God was seeing or hearing their situation (s:w. <a href='B:290 59:21'>Isa 59:21</a>; <a href='B:330 12:2'>Eze 12:2</a>). It was because of this attitude that they had gone into exile in the first place (s:w. <a href='B:300 5:21'>Jer 5:21</a>; <a href='B:300 7:24'>Jer 7:24</a>). There are huge implications of believing in God as the creator of men in His image. He can hardly be perceived as insensitive to what we see and hear, seeing that He created ears and eyes. The same logic demands that we believe that He can strengthen human faculties just as He wishes (<a href='B:20 4:11'>Exo 4:11</a>). see on :10.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He who disciplines the nations, won’t He punish? He who teaches man knows-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The people being criticized were amongst God's people; they were warned that He who even disciplines the Gentiles (:10) will even moreso judge His own people; see on :8. It makes no sense to assume that the God who teaches man is ignorant of that knowledge which He teaches; this is an extension of the logic discussed on :9.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Bible persistently emphasizes the colossal significance of the thoughts, the spirit. And this prepares the way for the huge theme of the Spirit in the New Testament, and the opportunity to receive a holy spirit, the very spirit or mind of the Lord Jesus. It was because of the "thoughts of man" that the earth was destroyed by the flood (s:w. <a href='B:10 6:5'>Gen 6:5</a>). "Futile" is the word for "vanity", which is commonly used of idolatry. And this indeed is where modern day idolatry is committed- through having an empty mind, filled with vanity, rather than the things of God's Spirit.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed is the man whom You discipline, Yah, and teach out of Your law-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The chastening or "discipline" is the word used for David's experiences after the sin with Bathsheba (s:w. <a href='B:230 6:1'>Psa 6:1</a>; <a href='B:230 38:1'>Psa 38:1</a>; <a href='B:230 39:11'>Psa 39:11</a>). His eyes were opened to God's law through that. It was the Gentile nations who were disciplined in :10; so David has in view here how from among them, there would come some who responded to God's judgments by wanting to learn His law.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>that You may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that if the exiles repented and accepted God's discipline (:12), then their days of adversity in Babylon would come to an end, and their abusers would be buried eternally in the pit. The days of adversity or evil could equally refer to the evil which Judah had themselves wrought (s:w. <a href='B:50 31:18'>Deu 31:18</a>), the days [of punishment] for their own evil. And these could be ended if they repented of it.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Yahweh won’t reject His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The implication could be, in the context of :13,15, that this would be the case if they returned to righteousness and followed it. For God had indeed rejected and forsaken His people because of their sins; the same terms are used about this in <a href='B:290 32:14'>Isa 32:14</a>; <a href='B:300 12:7'>Jer 12:7</a>. The psalmist's understanding that ultimately God would not be left without a people therefore implied to him that His people would ultimately repent.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart shall follow it-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :14, the idea could be that there would be a "return" to justice, and again the righteous would follow righteousness. It was this repentance by the exiles which would lead to God no longer rejecting and forsaking His people (:14).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David so often parallels righteousness and justice / truth (<a href='B:230 9:8'>Psa 9:8</a>; <a href='B:230 33:5'>Psa 33:5</a>; <a href='B:230 37:6'>Psa 37:6</a>; <a href='B:230 72:2'>Psa 72:2</a>; <a href='B:230 94:15'>Psa 94:15</a>; <a href='B:230 99:7'>Psa 99:7</a>; <a href='B:230 103:6'>Psa 103:6</a>; <a href='B:230 106:3'>Psa 106:3</a>). Indeed, this parallel is so common in God's word. What it means is that the righteousness of God is a just righteousness. It's not fake, 'I'll turn a blind eye'. It is true, real, valid, and has integrity underpinned in the very essential justice of God Himself. Justice and righteousness may appear abstract ideas, mere theology. But the result is that the person who believes God's righteousness is imputed to him or her::. will feel this, they will know it to be true, they can by grace, in faith, quietly hold their head up before God. And David after Bathsheba is our example. He believed and felt this imputed righteousness. It's not so much a case of 'forgiving ourselves' after God has forgiven us, but rather of being swamped by this very real and legitimate sense that truly, we have been counted righteous. And Paul in Romans holds up David after Bathsheba as the personal example to "every one who is Godly" in their time of spiritual need. See on <a href='B:230 41:12'>Psa 41:12</a>.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had been careful to stress that justice belongs to Yahweh; hence he didn't take Saul's life when he had the chance. So the answer to this question is "God". And this was likewise to be the answer arrived at by the exiles:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Unless Yahweh had been my help, my soul would have soon been silenced-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is very much the spirit of the exiles in <a href='B:230 124:1-2'>Psa 124:1-2</a>. But they were to follow the path of David, in devotion to God's word, repentance and thence restoration.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When I said, My foot is slipping! Your grace, Yahweh, held me up-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David recognized that his steps had slid (<a href='B:230 38:16'>Psa 38:16</a>; <a href='B:230 94:18'>Psa 94:18</a>). But at the end of his life, he reflects that the steps of the righteous don't slip (<a href='B:230 37:25'>Psa 37:25</a>; <a href='B:230 37:31'>Psa 37:31</a>). Perhaps David came to minimize his earlier slipping, especially in the matter of Bathsheba, in his old age. Or perhaps he was able to look back and see that despite temporary sliding of steps, ultimately the steps of the righteous don't slide in the overall path of their life:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Your comforts delight my soul-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that David was confused, struggling with the idea of ultimate salvation and blessing being so different from current realities. But despite all that confusion, the simple love of God was his comfort. His confusion was shared by the exiles, and also ultimately by the Lord Jesus. The spirit of Christ in the prophets testified Messiah’s sufferings “unto Christ" (<a href='B:670 1:11'>1Pe 1:11</a> RVmg:), but He still had to figure it all out. And this enabled an element of doubt and confusion, even though in the end He knew “all the things that were coming upon him" (<a href='B:500 18:4'>Joh 18:4</a>). To doubt or feel confused is not to sin. This Messianic Psalm had foretold: “In the multitude of my doubts within me, thy comforts delight my soul" (<a href='B:230 94:19'>Psa 94:19</a> RVmg:). This aspect heightens the agony of His final crisis, when He unexpectedly felt forsaken.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with You, which brings about mischief by statute?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The initial reference would have been to the throne of Saul and perhaps later of Absalom, but was easily reapplied to the throne of Baylon. David had a marked hatred of sin, and often stated his desire to purge Israel of sinners, and his refusal to fellowship with evil (<a href='B:230 94:20'>Psa 94:20</a>; <a href='B:230 97:10'>Psa 97:10</a>; <a href='B:230 101:3-8'>Psa 101:3-8</a>; <a href='B:230 119:63'>Psa 119:63</a>; <a href='B:230 119:78-79'>Psa 119:78-79</a>; <a href='B:230 139:19'>Psa 139:19</a>). And yet he had to revise these attitudes somewhat when he as the king committed murder and adultery.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is how David perceived his persecution by Saul and Absalom. But he was himself not innocent of blood nor was he completely righteous. David's prayer of repentance and request to be saved from "blood guiltiness" (<a href='B:230 51:14'>Psa 51:14</a>) is literally 'from blood'. He was a man of blood and was guilty of Uriah's innocent blood. David had asked for 'men of blood' to be slain (<a href='B:230 55:23'>Psa 55:23</a> s:w:), those who had taken the blood of the innocent (<a href='B:230 94:21'>Psa 94:21</a>), and for 'men of blood' to be expelled from his presence (<a href='B:230 139:19'>Psa 139:19</a>). And it is not at all clear whether all those Psalms were written before his sin with Bathsheba. God was trying to teach David that he was the type of person whom he condemned. And yet it is unclear if he learned that lesson. Solomon liberally condemns the man who sheds innocent blood (<a href='B:240 6:17'>Pro 6:17</a>; <a href='B:240 28:17'>Pro 28:17</a>), refusing to recognize that his much lauded father had done just this, and was only saved by grace and not by any obedience to wisdom. There is so little grace in the book of Solomon's Proverbs because Solomon had failed to perceive the grace shown to his father.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But Yahweh has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David sees that Yahweh will be a "high tower" or place of refuge at the day of future judgment (<a href='B:230 9:8-9'>Psa 9:8-9</a>, quoted about this in <a href='B:510 17:31'>Act 17:31</a>). But David feels God has been like this to him in this life (<a href='B:100 22:3'>2Sa 22:3</a>; <a href='B:230 18:2'>Psa 18:2</a>; <a href='B:230 46:7'>Psa 46:7</a>; <a href='B:230 48:3'>Psa 48:3</a>; <a href='B:230 59:9'>Psa 59:9</a>; <a href='B:230 59:16-17'>Psa 59:16-17</a>; <a href='B:230 62:2'>Psa 62:2</a>; <a href='B:230 94:22'>Psa 94:22</a>; <a href='B:230 144:2'>Psa 144:2</a>). He therefore sees a seamless experience in his relationship with God in this life, and at the future day of judgment. God saves us right now and is a refuge for us in countless life situations; and this is the guarantee that He will be likewise at the last day.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Oh come, let’s sing to Yahweh, let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The LXX ascribes this to David, and that is confirmed by the quotation of it as from David in <a href='B:650 4:7'>Heb 4:7</a>. I suggest the psalm began as a response to his receipt of grace and forgiveness after the sin with Bathsheba. It is David's invitation to all on earth, especially God's people, to come to Yahweh. But it moves on to lament that God's people hadn't responded, and as Israel didn't enter the promised rest because of unbelief, so the exiles were being prevented from reentering the same land. This was because they had declined to follow in the path of David's repentance and restoration, effectively refusing the invitation to come to Yahweh found in the first half of the Psalm.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David knew his sinfulness, he knew his reliance upon the grace of God, more and more as he got older. One would have thought that after the Bathsheba incident, David would have kept his mouth shut so far as telling other people how to live was concerned. But instead, we find an increasing emphasis in the Psalms (chronologically) upon David's desire to teach others of God's ways- particularly the surrounding Gentile peoples, before whom David had been disgraced over Bathsheba, not to mention from his two faced allegiance to Achish (<a href='B:90 27:8-12'>1Sa 27:8-12</a>). There is real stress upon this evangelistic fervour of David (<a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a>; <a href='B:230 18:49'>Psa 18:49</a>; <a href='B:230 22:25'>Psa 22:25</a>; <a href='B:230 22:31'>Psa 22:31</a>; <a href='B:230 35:18'>Psa 35:18</a>; <a href='B:230 40:9-10'>Psa 40:9-10</a>; <a href='B:230 57:9'>Psa 57:9</a>; <a href='B:230 62:8'>Psa 62:8</a>; <a href='B:230 66:5'>Psa 66:5</a>; <a href='B:230 66:16'>Psa 66:16</a>; <a href='B:230 95:1'>Psa 95:1</a>; <a href='B:230 95:8'>Psa 95:8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:5-8'>Psa 96:5-8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:10'>Psa 96:10</a>; <a href='B:230 100:1-4'>Psa 100:1-4</a>; <a href='B:230 105:1-2'>Psa 105:1-2</a>; <a href='B:230 119:27'>Psa 119:27</a>; <a href='B:230 145:5-6'>Psa 145:5-6</a>; <a href='B:230 145:12'>Psa 145:12</a>). Indeed, <a href='B:230 71:18'>Psa 71:18</a> records the "old and greyheaded" David pleading with God not to die until he had taught "thy strength unto this generation". As with Paul years later, the only reason he wanted to stay alive was in order to witness the Gospel of grace to others. David&nbsp;therefore coped with his deep inner traumas by looking out of himself to those around him, eagerly desiring to share with them the pureness of God's grace. He didn't do this as some kind of self-help psychiatry; it came naturally from a realization of his own sinfulness and God's mercy, and the wonderful willingness&nbsp;of God to extend this to men.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let’s come before His presence with thanksgiving, let’s extol Him with songs!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "presence" of God likely refers to the shekinah glory seen over the ark. The "songs" in view were the Psalms of David. For this Psalm is written by David (see on :1), inviting all people to share his experience of Yahweh's grace and to join in his ecstasy of praise for His grace. The Psalm was likely used in the liturgy of the sanctuary, and many synagogues still use it to call to the Sabbath on Friday evenings. See on :6.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So often, the idols aren't in so many words criticized as not existing, but rather, Yahweh is so exalted above them that even if they do exist, they are so relatively powerless that they are show to have no effective existence. It's the same with how the language of demons is used in the New Testament; the Lord's miracles demonstrated that God's power was so infinitely greater, that effectively demons don't exist.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the mountains are also His-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is taken as meaning that Judah could take comfort from the fact that a God of this power would therefore not totally reject His people for all power, despite their sins (<a href='B:300 31:37'>Jer 31:37</a>):&nbsp; </p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The sea is His, and He made it; His hands formed the dry land-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David realized that as God fashioned / formed the earth (<a href='B:230 95:5'>Psa 95:5</a>), so He can fashion human hearts (<a href='B:230 33:15'>Psa 33:15</a>). His word and Spirit work in doing both things, with the same boundless possibility and power.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Oh come, let’s worship and bow down-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :2; clearly the Psalm was used in the liturgy of the tabernacle services. The invitation to "bow down" was asking the people to repent. This was so relevant to the exiles, for their refusal to do so placed them in the same situation as the people exiled from Canaan.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There are huge implications in believing that God is our creator We will therefore humbly bow before Him in worship, in a way that those who deny theistic creation are not motivated to.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>for He is our God. We are the people of His pasture, and the sheep in His care-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the same message to the exiles as they were given in Ezekiel 34. The God whom they considered didn't care did in fact care passionately; He was their shepherd, wishing to lead and restore them to the land. But they were disobedient sheep.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Today, oh that you would hear His voice!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Hebrew word for ‘hear’ is also translated ‘obey’ (<a href='B:10 22:18'>Gen 22:18</a>; <a href='B:20 19:5'>Exo 19:5</a>; <a href='B:50 30:8'>Deu 30:8</a>; <a href='B:50 30:20'>Deu 30:20</a>; <a href='B:230 95:7'>Psa 95:7</a>). The context is of sheep hearing the shepherd's voice. The exiles were being called to obedience to the prophetic word, so that they might be restored to their land. We can hear God’s word and not obey it. But if we really&nbsp;hear it as we are intended to, we will obey it. If we truly believe God’s word to be His voice personally speaking to us, then we will by the very fact of hearing, obey. The message itself, if heard properly and not just on a surface level, will compel action. We can delight to know God’s laws and pray daily to Him, when at the same time we are forsaking Him and His laws; if we are truly obedient, then we will delight in God’s law (<a href='B:290 58:2'>Isa 58:2</a> cp. 14).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>All Scripture is recorded for our learning and comfort (<a href='B:520 15:4'>Rom 15:4</a>). The exhortation of <a href='B:240 3:11'>Pro 3:11</a> “speaks unto you as unto children::." (<a href='B:650 12:5'>Heb 12:5</a>). Hebrews 3 quotes&nbsp; Psalms 95 as relevant to all readers. The warnings there for that "today" were also be a warning for the first century "today", and yet likewise we can still take hold of the past word of God and relate it to the needs of our "today". We can fail to personalize God’s word, in the sense of realizing that it speaks to us personally.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The quotation of this in <a href='B:650 3:7'>Heb 3:7</a> emphasis upon "today" is in the context of appealing for confidence right now in the certain hope of future salvation (<a href='B:650 3:6'>Heb 3:6</a>). We should be able to say with confidence that "today" if the Lord comes or if we die, we shall be saved. This is the meaning of the emphasis upon "today"; Peter has the same idea when writing of our rejoicing in "the present truth" (<a href='B:680 1:12'>2Pe 1:12</a>), the ultimate truth that today at this moment we shall be saved if the Lord returns or we die. In this sense "now is the day of salvation" (<a href='B:540 6:2'>2Co 6:2</a>). At this moment we can seek and find the Lord, "while He may be found" (<a href='B:290 55:6'>Isa 55:6</a>):&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The events of the rebellion of Exodus 17 are the basis for this part of Psalms 95. This is largely a Psalm of praise for what God did for Israel in the wilderness, whilst also commenting on the way they tragically put God to the test, and complained about His care for them. Now the words of <a href='B:230 95:7-11'>Psa 95:7-11</a> are directly quoted in <a href='B:650 3:7-11'>Heb 3:7-11</a> concerning the experience of the new Israel. The simple conclusion from this is that we are really intended to see the events of Exodus 17 as directly relevant for us.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles had gone into captivity for hardening their hearts as Pharaoh had done (s:w. <a href='B:300 7:26'>Jer 7:26</a>; <a href='B:300 17:23'>Jer 17:23</a>). And they would stay there until they stopped hardening their hearts, and accepted the work of the Spirit upon their hearts as promised to the exiles in Jeremiah and Ezekiel- if they were repent.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The quotation in <a href='B:650 3:8'>Heb 3:8</a> is in the context of how the Jews had hardened their hearts when Paul preached to them (<a href='B:510 19:9'>Act 19:9</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>when your fathers tempted Me, tested Me and saw My work-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The testing was the worse because they "saw My work". But despite that, didn't want to believe that God could bring them into the land. The same was the case with the exiles. They had gone into captivity for refusing to 'see My work' (s:w. <a href='B:290 5:12'>Isa 5:12</a>). But even when they did perceive it, they doubted whether God's work was strong enough to save them. And this can be an abiding temptation for the new Israel; not becoming atheists, recognizing God "is" and has power; but refusing to believe He can save us personally.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The entire period of wilderness wanderings was characterized by Israel putting God to the test; they were not confident of their final salvation, and were ever looking for evidence from Him. He had brought them out of Egypt through the blood of the Passover lamb; and there were daily miracles of provision in the bread and water which pointed forward to the Lord Jesus. This desire for yet further proof is seen in various guises today; from the phlegmatic, wavering believer who wants more 'scientific proof' of God to those in the Pentecostal movement ever seeking visible evidence that the Lord is amongst them. The word of promise regarding salvation is to be believed and that faith and joy held on to (<a href='B:650 3:6'>Heb 3:6</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They continually tested God even though they saw His works daily; the manna, water from the rock, shekinah glory over the tabernacle, the cloud by day and the fire by night. But still they tested Him. This is our warning against ever seeking 'hard proof'. Even if we were to be daily given it, this would not take away the desire to test God. It is total faith in the word of promise which is required (<a href='B:650 3:6'>Heb 3:6</a>), and the confirmation is not in petty experimentation day by day which 'proves' God, but rather has it already been provided in the Lord's death and resurrection.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Forty long years I was grieved with that generation and said-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The parallel was with the 70 year exile of Judah. Those years were "long" to God, because He so wanted to restore His people. He was "grieved" at His heart for them. He takes no pleasure in punishing the wicked. And yet despite their impenitence, at the end of the forty years, God did bring His people into the land. By grace, God saw no iniquity in Israel (<a href='B:40 23:21'>Num 23:21</a>). He fulfilled His promise at Sinai that if they were obedient, He would make them His people; and He did, counting them as obedient. Yet the events of the intervening forty years hardly sound like Israel being obedient; He "suffered their manners" forty years (<a href='B:230 95:10'>Psa 95:10</a>; <a href='B:510 13:18'>Act 13:18</a>). And yet at the end of that period, they were counted as having been sufficiently obedient to be made God’s people (<a href='B:20 19:5'>Exo 19:5</a> cp. <a href='B:50 27:9'>Deu 27:9</a>). This 'displeasure' or 'grief' lasted 40 years (<a href='B:650 3:17'>Heb 3:17</a> s:w:); it was a daily grief that they did not trust Him. To believe in God is to trust Him. In Hebrew, belief is trust. And no amount of petty testing of God will give us that trust.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known My ways-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Just as the state of human hearts was the reason for the flood (<a href='B:10 6:5'>Gen 6:5</a>), so in essence it was a state of heart which meant Israel couldn't enter the Kingdom. The importance of the spirit / heart, of spiritual mindedness, could not be more strongly emphasized. They saw God's work, but refused to know His ways. To recognize God's existence and work is one thing; but to know God in the Hebraic sense of relationship is quite another.</p><h2>&nbsp;Psalms 95 gives us a unique insight into God's internal thought processes. He "said" within Himself that they problem was in Israel's hearts. They had seen "His way in the [Red] Sea" (<a href='B:230 77:19'>Psa 77:19</a>), He had "made known His ways to Israel" (<a href='B:230 103:17'>Psa 103:17</a>), but their heart was far from Him. But "My ways" refers so often to God's commandments; Israel were repeatedly asked to "walk in His ways" as they walked through the wilderness (<a href='B:50 10:12'>Deu 10:12</a>; <a href='B:50 11:22'>Deu 11:22</a>; <a href='B:50 26:17'>Deu 26:17</a> etc:). He sought not so much total legalistic obedience to His ways / commandments as to "know" them, to appreciate them, to perceive them in their hearts. The Hebrew word translated "err" is that used for Israel's "wandering" in the wilderness for 40 years (<a href='B:230 107:4'>Psa 107:4</a>). They wandered in their minds, just as humanity does today- from this passing passion to that, toying with that principle or fantasy and then with thIsa::. and that mental lack of stability was reflected in how they literally wandered. This aimless wandering through life is the parade characteristic of the unbelieving world. Only a firm hope in Christ and our future salvation can give us this mental and emotional stability which is the work of the Holy Spirit.</h2>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>:1 </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing to Yahweh a new song! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Even in the Old Testament, the idea of living in a spirit of newness of life is to be found. David six times invites us to sing with him “a new song” (<a href='B:230 33:3'>Psa 33:3</a>; <a href='B:230 40:3'>Psa 40:3</a>; <a href='B:230 96:1'>Psa 96:1</a>; <a href='B:230 98:1'>Psa 98:1</a>; <a href='B:230 144:9'>Psa 144:9</a>; <a href='B:230 149:1'>Psa 149:1</a> cp. <a href='B:290 42:10'>Isa 42:10</a>). Invariably these songs are associated with the experience of God’s redemption (cp. <a href='B:730 5:9'>Rev 5:9</a>). Obviously those ‘new songs’ were intended to be repeatedly sung. Our regular experience of forgiveness and redemption should urge us onwards in the spirit of ‘newness of life’. Like Paul we die daily with the Lord, and the power of His resurrection life likewise daily breaks out in us.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing to Yahweh! Bless His name! Proclaim His salvation from day to day!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The LXX uses the word evangelion concerning how daily we should “show forth his salvation” (<a href='B:230 96:2'>Psa 96:2</a>). Witness is therefore a daily feature in the life of those who have known salvation; it is not something done solely by attending an ecclesial gathering once per week. This explains why frequently Paul uses the word "Gospel" as meaning 'the preaching of the Gospel'; the Gospel is in itself something which must be preached if we really have it (<a href='B:520 1:1'>Rom 1:1</a>; <a href='B:520 1:9'>Rom 1:9</a>; <a href='B:520 16:25'>Rom 16:25</a>; Php_1:5 (NIV),12; 2:22; 4:15; <a href='B:590 1:5'>1Th 1:5</a>; <a href='B:590 3:2'>1Th 3:2</a>; <a href='B:600 2:14'>2Th 2:14</a>; <a href='B:620 1:8'>2Ti 1:8</a>; <a href='B:620 2:8'>2Ti 2:8</a>). The fact we have been given the Gospel is in itself an imperative to preach it. </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Many of the Psalms reflect David’s realization that confession of sin is the basis for powerful preaching. The LXX often uses the verb euangelizesthai to describe his preaching after the Bathsheba incident (<a href='B:230 96:2'>Psa 96:2</a>). Because God has mercifully forgive His people and His face shines upon them in renewed fellowship, His way is thereby made known upon earth to all nations (<a href='B:230 67:1-2'>Psa 67:1-2</a>). He utters forth the mighty acts of God with the preface: “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord, who can shew forth all his praise?” (<a href='B:230 106:2'>Psa 106:2</a>)- and then proceeds to do just that. He did so with a clear recognition of his own inadequacy. The Psalms of praise are full of this theme. David exhorts all those who have been redeemed to show forth God’s praise (<a href='B:230 107:2'>Psa 107:2</a>; <a href='B:230 107:22'>Psa 107:22</a>; <a href='B:230 107:32'>Psa 107:32</a>). He wanted all Israel to be a joyful, witnessing people. And even though it seems God’s people didn’t respond, David went on undeterred. Time and again he fearlessly sets himself up as Israel’s example. He speaks of how he trusts in the Lord’s grace, and then appeals to Israel to do just the same (<a href='B:230 62:7-8'>Psa 62:7-8</a>). The strength of his appeal was in the fact that his sin and experience of grace was the bridge between him and his audience.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It was God’s prophesied will that the Gospel would go world-wide; but it required the freewill strivings of Paul to enable it, and the strivings with God in prayer by the brethren. With these thoughts in mind, bear in mind the parallels between Psalms 96, 98. &nbsp;Sing unto the Lord a new song (96:1) = O sing unto the Lord a new song (98:1); His wonders among all people. For He hath done marvellous [s:w. ‘wonders’] things in the sight of the nations (96:2 RV) = declare His glory among the nations (98:3); righteousness and truth (96:13) = righteousness and truth (98:3); Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof (96:11) = Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof (98:7); for He cometh to judge the earth (96:9) = for He cometh to judge the earth (98:13); The Lord reigns (96:10) = The Lord the king (98:6).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But there are some subtle differences. <a href='B:230 96:2-3'>Psa 96:2-3</a> exhorts us: “Show forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen”. But <a href='B:230 98:2'>Psa 98:2</a> puts it another way: “The Lord has made known His salvation. His righteousness has He openly shewed in the sight of the nations”. These latter words are only true in that we make known that salvation, and we declare His glory among the nations. Thus a statement in Psalms 98 that Yahweh has shewed His glory to the nations becomes an imperative for us to go and do that in Psalms 96.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Declare His glory among the nations, His marvellous works among all the peoples-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :7. Perhaps the triple command to 'Sing to the Lord' in the opening verses of Psalms 96 alludes to Israel's three feasts, as does the triple, repetitive verses of <a href='B:230 99:1-9'>Psa 99:1-9</a>; which likewise bid the Gentile world to come to Israel's worship.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's focus of all his praises upon Yahweh as alone "worthy" of praise was what he now wanted his people to follow (<a href='B:230 18:3'>Psa 18:3</a>; <a href='B:230 22:3'>Psa 22:3</a>). The implication of "worthy" could imply a contrast with other gods, as here in <a href='B:230 96:4'>Psa 96:4</a> "He is to be feared / praised above all gods". This would confirm the hints we have that Saul was an idolater (see on :31; <a href='B:230 12:8'>Psa 12:8</a>; <a href='B:230 16:4'>Psa 16:4</a>), and that idolatry was prevalent in Israel at the time.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The gods / idols aren't in so many words criticized as not existing, but rather, Yahweh is so exalted above them as creator of all that even if they do exist, they are so relatively powerless that they are show to have no effective existence. It's the same with how the language of demons is used in the New Testament; the Lord's miracles demonstrated that God's power was so infinitely greater, that effectively demons don't exist. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Honour and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :7. This is a reference to the Most Holy Place; the reference to His "strength and beauty" going into captivity may refer to the ark (<a href='B:230 78:61'>Psa 78:61</a> s:w:). </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of nations, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The very same Hebrew words used about how David felt he wanted to give glory and strength [honour] to the Lord (<a href='B:230 62:7'>Psa 62:7</a>). "Families of nations" recalls the promises made to Abraham of his seed. He wished for the whole world to share his relationship with God. The radical nature of what is being suggested in Psalms 96 (especially :7,8) and many similar Psalms can easily be overlooked. The Psalmist is urging Gentiles to come and worship with Israel, proceeding into the tabernacle courts and thence into "the beauty of holiness" (:6), i:e. the Most Holy Place ['holiness' being read here as a noun rather than an adjective- it is the same Hebrew word elsewhere translated "sanctuary" and related to the Hebrew word used for "sanctuary" in :6]:&nbsp; The Psalmist is inviting Gentiles to come in to the worship of Israel and proceed where only the High Priest could venture once / year. It was the equivalent of proclaiming an open table policy in the most exclusive of churches. </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The common assumption of expositors is that the Psalmist has in view the Kingdom age, but this seems precluded by his appeal to the Gentiles to come and worship exactly because of the good news that the Lord is coming to judge the earth in righteousness (:13)- which is quoted about the return of Christ to earth in <a href='B:510 17:31'>Act 17:31</a>. The holiness boundaries taught by the Law were only teaching mechanisms, which is why they were removed by the open Christ. David for one got to this point well before most other Israelites did, acting as the High Priest (<a href='B:130 16:3'>1Ch 16:3</a>), entering the sanctuary when not a Levite (<a href='B:230 63:2'>Psa 63:2</a>) and experiencing forgiveness and salvation quite outside the Law rather than the Law's penalty of death. </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Most of Psalms 96 is to be found in David's Psalm at the bringing of the ark to Zion in 1 Chronicles 16, so we can safely assume David to have been the author. His outreach to the Gentiles is typical of the spirit of the Bathsheba Psalms, where he vows to tell the whole world of God's grace. It's not that the experience of sin and forgiveness makes a person somehow weak and wishy washy acceptant of anyone and anything. The experience of God's grace at close quarters leads us to realize how radical was His acceptance of us and thereby we should proactively seek to be acceptant of all those who are afar off. And so David perceived that God's Name (His characteristics, of which grace is uttermost) deserved glory to be given to it- simply for what it was (:8). And that glory is "due" from all, including the Gentiles- and so they should be invited across all holiness boundaries to come with their offerings to God. Thus Yahweh's greatness above all other gods was what led David to appeal to "all you gods" [perhaps put by metonymy for the idol worshipping peoples] to come and worship before Yahweh (<a href='B:230 97:7'>Psa 97:7</a>). </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The appeal was to be global and not just to Israel because David perceived that actually the truth of God is proclaimed by "the whole earth" and "heavens" (<a href='B:230 97:5-6'>Psa 97:5-6</a>). Of course, the call is for the Gentile idolaters to "come" to Yahweh's sanctuary, and not for God's people to leave Yahweh and go to them. And they were to "bring an offering", to make a commitment to the God they were being invited to come close to (<a href='B:230 96:8'>Psa 96:8</a>). <a href='B:230 98:3-5'>Psa 98:3-5</a> continues this radical appeal to the Gentile world, but it urges them to come and worship (which involved coming to the sanctuary in Israel) exactly because God has been so gracious to sinful Israel. Israel's extreme sin and God's radical grace and patience with them for not being good witnesses to the Gentiles::. was to serve as encouragement for the Gentiles to come to Israel's God and praise Him, confident that their sins too could be forgiven. </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same idea is found in <a href='B:230 99:1-5'>Psa 99:1-5</a> - because of God's grace to Jacob / Israel, an undefined group are bidden come to Zion, to the very cherubim (in the Most Holy Place) to exalt and praise God at His footstool. This group, in line with the preceding Psalms, are surely the Gentile world. "Let them praise Your great Name" (<a href='B:230 99:3'>Psa 99:3</a>) would surely make most sense if it referred to the Gentiles, seeing that David or the Psalmist was Israelite. We see the same idea in <a href='B:230 97:1'>Psa 97:1</a>; it begins with an appeal to the islands of the Gentiles to 'rejoice' and 'be glad', but the same two Hebrew words are used in <a href='B:230 97:8'>Psa 97:8</a> about how Zion- those in the very temple mount- likewise rejoice and are glad. The very "ends of the earth" who saw God's salvation of His people are invited to praise Him for it (<a href='B:230 98:3-4'>Psa 98:3-4</a>)- the invitation to join in praise was effectively an invitation to join in worship, and thereby to become part of God's covenant people. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to His name, bring an offering and come into His courts-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>According to the LXX titles, there were certain Psalms which were written for the dedication of the rebuilt temple, and others written by Haggai and Zechariah. They include: Psalms 96, 138, 147, 148. These all seem to speak as if the time of a glorious temple was to be the time of God’s Kingdom; this was the possibility, and it was the prevailing hope in the minds of the faithful minority. But the Psalms had to remain prophecies of the future day of Zion’s glory, for the temple was not rebuilt by the returned exiles according to the specifications of Ezekiel 40-48. Psalms 96 is very clear: “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name [i:e:] bring an offering, and come into his courts” (:8). But Judah did not bring the right offerings, although the glory of Yahweh’s Name ought to have elicited them (<a href='B:460 1:11-14'>Mal 1:11-14</a>). <a href='B:230 96:13'>Psa 96:13</a> confidently anticipate the coming of Messiah there and then: “then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for he cometh, he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness”. These words are quoted about the second coming of Jesus in <a href='B:510 17:31'>Act 17:31</a>:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Worship Yahweh in holy array, tremble before Him, all the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As it was God’s intention that Israel were to be a nation of priests to the rest of the world, so the new Israel likewise are to all discharge the priestly functions of teaching their brethren (<a href='B:20 19:6'>Exo 19:6</a> cp. <a href='B:670 2:5'>1Pe 2:5</a>; <a href='B:730 1:6'>Rev 1:6</a>; <a href='B:730 5:9-10'>Rev 5:9-10</a>). Under the new covenant, we should all teach and admonish one another (<a href='B:580 3:16'>Col 3:16</a>). Indeed, God told Israel [unrecorded in the historical records]: “Ye are gods [elohim] and all of you are sons of the Most High” (<a href='B:230 82:6'>Psa 82:6</a> RV). Further, <a href='B:230 96:9'>Psa 96:9</a> makes the paradigm breaking statement that even the Gentiles could come before Yahweh of Israel in holy, priestly array- they too could aspire to the spirit of priesthood (<a href='B:230 96:9'>Psa 96:9</a> RVmg:). Moses spoke of how all Israel should pray that God would establish the work of their hands (<a href='B:230 90:17'>Psa 90:17</a>)- but this was in fact his special request for the blessing of Levi, the priestly tribe (<a href='B:50 33:11'>Deu 33:11</a>). <a href='B:230 135:19-20'>Psa 135:19-20</a> parallels all Israel with the priestly family: “Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron: bless the Lord, O house of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord::. praise ye the Lord”. All Israel were to aspire to the spirit of priesthood. Indeed, the Psalms often parallel the house of Aaron (i:e. the priesthood) with the whole nation (<a href='B:230 115:9-10'>Psa 115:9-10</a>; <a href='B:230 115:12'>Psa 115:12</a>; <a href='B:230 118:2-3'>Psa 118:2-3</a>). </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Say among the nations, Yahweh reigns! The world is also established, so that it can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David knew his sinfulness, he knew his reliance upon the grace of God, more and more as he got older. One would have thought that after the Bathsheba incident, David would have kept his mouth shut so far as telling other people how to live was concerned. But instead, we find an increasing emphasis in the Psalms (chronologically) upon David's desire to teach others of God's ways- particularly the surrounding Gentile peoples, before whom David had been disgraced over Bathsheba, not to mention from his two faced allegiance to Achish (<a href='B:90 27:8-12'>1Sa 27:8-12</a>). There is real stress upon this evangelistic fervour of David (<a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a>; <a href='B:230 18:49'>Psa 18:49</a>; <a href='B:230 22:25'>Psa 22:25</a>; <a href='B:230 22:31'>Psa 22:31</a>; <a href='B:230 35:18'>Psa 35:18</a>; <a href='B:230 40:9-10'>Psa 40:9-10</a>; <a href='B:230 57:9'>Psa 57:9</a>; <a href='B:230 62:8'>Psa 62:8</a>; <a href='B:230 66:5'>Psa 66:5</a>; <a href='B:230 66:16'>Psa 66:16</a>; <a href='B:230 95:1'>Psa 95:1</a>; <a href='B:230 95:8'>Psa 95:8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:5-8'>Psa 96:5-8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:10'>Psa 96:10</a>; <a href='B:230 100:1-4'>Psa 100:1-4</a>; <a href='B:230 105:1-2'>Psa 105:1-2</a>; <a href='B:230 119:27'>Psa 119:27</a>; <a href='B:230 145:5-6'>Psa 145:5-6</a>; <a href='B:230 145:12'>Psa 145:12</a>). Indeed, <a href='B:230 71:18'>Psa 71:18</a> records the "old and greyheaded" David pleading with God not to die until he had taught "thy strength unto this generation". As with Paul years later, the only reason he wanted to stay alive was in order to witness the Gospel of grace to others. David&nbsp;therefore coped with his deep inner traumas by looking out of himself to those around him, eagerly desiring to share with them the pureness of God's grace. He didn't do this as some kind of self-help psychiatry; it came naturally from a realization of his own sinfulness and God's mercy, and the wonderful willingness&nbsp;of God to extend this to men. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, let the sea roar, and its fullness!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that all of the planet, the sea representing the peoples, would rejoice at the prospect of the coming of Israel's Lord in judgment (:13). This is not therefore speaking of the Kingdom; but rather of David's desire that before the Lord's coming, the Gentile peoples would come to such relationship with Him that they rejoiced at the prospect of His coming in judgment, knowing by faith that they would not be condemned.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David seems to have foreseen the joy of the natural and spiritual creation of the last days as they sense the approach of the Lord (see on :13):&nbsp; </p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This begins with an appeal to the islands of the Gentiles to 'rejoice' and 'be glad', but the same two Hebrew words are used in <a href='B:230 97:8'>Psa 97:8</a> about how Zion- those in the very temple mount- likewise rejoice and are glad. The very "ends of the earth" who saw God's salvation of His people are invited to praise Him for it (<a href='B:230 98:3-4'>Psa 98:3-4</a>)- the invitation to join in praise was effectively an invitation to join in worship, and thereby to become part of God's covenant people. The earth / eretz promised to Abraham was to rejoice along with the islands- the Gentiles. The Psalm appears to be an appeal to the exiles to rejoice at the prospect of restoration, which would include blessing upon the Gentile world.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Clouds and darkness are around Him, righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne-</p><h2>The language of theophany, as seen at the Red Sea and Sinai. The restored throne of David would be based upon justice and righteousness, whereas the throne of David had become characterized by injustice and unrighteousness before it was overthrown. There was envisaged a dramatic theophany which would be associated with the fall of Babylon and the restoration of God's exiled people. The cherubim which Ezekiel had seen departing from Zion would return. But this isn't what happened; Judah in exile didn't really repent, and those relatively few who did return were clearly motivated by the hope of personal benefit rather than the glory of God. Babylon didn't dramatically fall as envisaged in the prophets, there was no theophany; so much potential was wasted. But these things are rescheduled and reapplied to the final restoration of God's people at the last day:&nbsp;</h2>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries on every side-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :3, this was part of the potential scenario envisaged; but it was precluded by the exiles refusing to repent, and not actually wanting a restoration of the type prophesied. Most of them remained in Babylon when they had the chance to return. The fire going before the exiles is the same phrase used of how the pillar of fire went before Israel in leading them out of Egypt and to the promised land (<a href='B:20 13:21'>Exo 13:21</a>; <a href='B:40 14:14'>Num 14:14</a>). But the exiles preferred to remain in exile.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees, and trembles-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Lightning, fire (:3), clouds and darkness (:2) are all the language of theophany, of the type seen by Ezekiel when the cherubim departed from Zion. This kind of theophany could have been seen again had the exiles truly wanted to participate in God's potential program. This also continues the allusion to what happened at the Red Sea, although the historical record doesn't much mention the thunder, lightning and theophany which was experienced, according to this and other later descriptions of what happened (e:g. <a href='B:230 77:17-18'>Psa 77:17-18</a>; <a href='B:230 97:4'>Psa 97:4</a>). The clouds pouring out water also recalls the flood; as if the judgment upon Egypt would likewise be seen upon Babylon. But Babylon fell only very slowly, and not in the dramatic, miraculous way envisaged in the prophecies of the fall of Babylon. This was again because the Divine potential wasn't realized because the exiles didn't repent and most actually chose to remain in Babylon.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again continues the allusion to the exodus, which could have been repeated in essence at the restoration from Babylon. The mountains of opposing nations, not least Babylon, could have been burnt up; just as the Canaanite opposition to the redeemed Israel was potentially melted (<a href='B:60 2:11'>Jos 2:11</a>). This is why the restoration prophecies of later Isaiah are full of allusion to the exodus and Red Sea deliverance. "The Lord of the whole earth" / land promised to Abraham is a phrase associated with the exodus and possession of Canaan (<a href='B:60 3:11'>Jos 3:11</a>; <a href='B:60 3:13'>Jos 3:13</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The heavens declare His righteousness; all the peoples have seen His glory-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The vision was of all the peoples in the eretz or land promised to Abraham seeing the restored shekinah glory in Zion, associated with the theophany envisaged in :2-4. The appeal was to be global and not just to Israel because David perceived that actually the truth of God is proclaimed by "the whole earth" and "heavens" (<a href='B:230 97:5-6'>Psa 97:5-6</a>). Of course, the call is for the Gentile idolaters to "come" to Yahweh's sanctuary, and not for God's people to leave Yahweh and go to them. And they were to "bring an offering", to make a commitment to the God they were being invited to come close to (<a href='B:230 96:8'>Psa 96:8</a>). See on <a href='B:230 96:7'>Psa 96:7</a>.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh's greatness above all other gods was what led David to appeal to "all you gods" [perhaps put by metonymy for the idol worshipping peoples] to come and worship before Yahweh (<a href='B:230 97:7'>Psa 97:7</a>). See on <a href='B:230 96:7'>Psa 96:7</a>. But Ezekiel demonstrates that idolatry was rife amongst the exiles. They would be shamed in condemnation.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Worship Him, all you gods!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The gentile idols are not specifically stated to be non-existent. But the huge power of Yahweh was such that they were revealed as having no effective power compared to Him, and were therefore declared non-existent in any functional sense. And this is why the language of demons is used in the New Testament; but the Lord's miracles were of such magnitude that they were declared to thereby have no effective existence in practice.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced, because of Your judgments, Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The daughter of Zion / Judah is a phrase used of the exiles. They were to rejoice in the prospect of what was possible for them. But instead most of them preferred to remain in Babylon, and persecuted the prophets like Ezekiel who told them this good news. This is the same reference for <a href='B:450 9:9'>Zec 9:9</a>, which exhorts the exiled daughter of Zion to "rejoice" (s:w. "be glad") because her Messianic king was coming to restore her. This was sadly precluded at the time by the exiles' impenitence, and the failure of the potential Messianic figures such as Zerubbabel.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You, Yahweh, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The gentile idols are not specifically stated to be non-existent. But the huge power of Yahweh was such that they were revealed as having no effective power compared to Him, and were therefore declared non-existent in any functional sense- see on :7. The exiles were intended to rejoice at the fall of Babylon because her idols would be brought down before Yahweh; but instead the exiles continued to worship those idols.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You who love Yahweh, hate evil. He preserves the souls of His saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may have originated in David's thoughts about Saul, then reapplied to David's need for salvation from Absalom and Ahithophel, but, it becomes the intended appeal of the exiles for deliverance from Babylon, then Haman, and indeed from all their captors. "The hand of the wicked / unrighteous" is the term used for the Babylonians in <a href='B:330 7:21'>Eze 7:21</a>.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David is seeing himself and the righteous as Job, and he here continues that connection, seeing that Job is described likewise as "upright in heart" (<a href='B:220 1:8'>Job 1:8</a>; <a href='B:220 2:3'>Job 2:3</a>). David sees this as characteristic of all God's people (s:w. <a href='B:230 11:2'>Psa 11:2</a>; <a href='B:230 19:8'>Psa 19:8</a>; <a href='B:230 32:11'>Psa 32:11</a>; <a href='B:230 36:10'>Psa 36:10</a>; <a href='B:230 64:10'>Psa 64:10</a>; <a href='B:230 94:15'>Psa 94:15</a>; <a href='B:230 97:11'>Psa 97:11</a>). He sees the wicked as those who are not upright (<a href='B:230 14:3'>Psa 14:3</a>; <a href='B:230 51:1'>Psa 51:1</a>; <a href='B:230 51:3'>Psa 51:3</a>). But these words which David writes about the wicked are then reinterpreted as applying to all men, God's people included (<a href='B:520 3:12'>Rom 3:12</a>). Like Job, David had to be taught that actually he was failing to see the seriousness of sin; righteousness and acceptability with God is imputed to men by grace through faith, because actually there are none who are upright in heart, apart from God's representative son.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the context of the exiles, the idea is that if the exiles were indeed righteous and upright [which required their repentance], then they had the hope of light and gladness sown for them in this prophetic word of restoration.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing to Yahweh a new song, for He has done marvellous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Even in the Old Testament, the idea of living in a spirit of newness of life is to be found. David six times invites us to sing with him “a new song” (<a href='B:230 33:3'>Psa 33:3</a>; <a href='B:230 40:3'>Psa 40:3</a>; <a href='B:230 96:1'>Psa 96:1</a>; <a href='B:230 98:1'>Psa 98:1</a>; <a href='B:230 144:9'>Psa 144:9</a>; <a href='B:230 149:1'>Psa 149:1</a> cp. <a href='B:290 42:10'>Isa 42:10</a>). Invariably these songs are associated with the experience of God’s redemption (cp. <a href='B:730 5:9'>Rev 5:9</a>). Obviously those ‘new songs’ were intended to be repeatedly sung. Our regular experience of forgiveness and redemption should urge us onwards in the spirit of ‘newness of life’. Like Paul we die daily with the Lord, and the power of His resurrection life likewise daily breaks out in us.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh has made known His salvation, He has openly shown His righteousness in the sight of the nations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It was God’s prophesied will that the Gospel would go world-wide; but it required the freewill strivings of Paul to enable it, and the strivings with God in prayer by the brethren. With these thoughts in mind, bear in mind the parallels between Psalms 96, 98. &nbsp;Sing unto the Lord a new song (96:1) = O sing unto the Lord a new song (98:1); His wonders among all people. For He hath done marvellous [s:w. ‘wonders’] things in the sight of the nations (96:2 RV) = declare His glory among the nations (98:3); righteousness and truth (96:13) = righteousness and truth (98:3); Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof (96:11) = Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof (98:7); for He cometh to judge the earth (96:9) = for He cometh to judge the earth (98:13); The Lord reigns (96:10) = The Lord the king (98:6).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But there are some subtle differences. <a href='B:230 96:2-3'>Psa 96:2-3</a> exhorts us: “Show forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen”. But <a href='B:230 98:2'>Psa 98:2</a> puts it another way: “The Lord has made known His salvation. His righteousness has He openly shewed in the sight of the nations”. These latter words are only true in that we make known that salvation, and we declare His glory among the nations. Thus a statement in Psalms 98 that Yahweh has shewed His glory to the nations becomes an imperative for us to go and do that in Psalms 96.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He has remembered His grace and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Salvation" is Yeshua. Clearly the day when all the earth shall perceive the Lord Jesus is in view. In the immediate context of David and later the exiles, the hope was that the extremities of the eretz promised to Abraham, places like Babylon and Assyria where the exiles were, would perceive that God had saved His people.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The very "ends of the earth" who saw God's salvation of His people are invited to praise Him for it (<a href='B:230 98:3-4'>Psa 98:3-4</a>)- the invitation to join in praise was effectively an invitation to join in worship, and thereby to become part of God's covenant people. These ends of the eretz were places like Babylon and Assyria, who had previously abused God's people.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:230 98:3-5'>Psa 98:3-5</a> continues the radical appeal of <a href='B:230 96:7'>Psa 96:7</a> to the Gentile world, but it urges them to come and worship (which involved coming to the sanctuary in Israel) exactly because God has been so gracious to sinful Israel. Israel's extreme sin and God's radical grace and patience with them for not being good witnesses to the Gentiles::. was to serve as encouragement for the Gentiles to come to Israel's God and praise Him, confident that their sins too could be forgiven.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's invitation of others to praise God with the harp was effectively asking them to share his personal praise of God- for he was known for his personal praising of the Lord with the harp.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>These were the trumpets which summoned Israel to keep the feasts in Zion. The idea is that the Gentiles would joyfully respond to the call to enter covenant relationship with Yahweh, and therefore keep His feasts. But the exiles didn't repent, and Ezekiel records their involvement with idol worship. As happened at Hezekiah's time, instead of Jerusalem becoming the international centre of Yahweh worship, the people instead returned to the idols of the surrounding nations.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who live therein-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that all of the planet, the sea representing the peoples, would rejoice at the prospect of the coming of Israel's Lord in judgment (:9). This is not therefore speaking of the Kingdom; but rather of David's desire that before the Lord's coming, the Gentile peoples would come to such relationship with Him that they rejoiced at the prospect of His coming in judgment, knowing by faith that they would not be condemned.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing for joy together-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The rivers and mountains are personified people because they are intended to be understood as representative of peoples and nations. The "rivers" have been used as representative of the Gentile armies which overran God's people; but they were envisaged as repenting and clapping with joy at the prospect of Yahweh's appearance in judgment; for they would repent.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh reigns! Let the nations tremble-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to be a Psalm rejoicing at the prospect of the restoration of the exiles; the Gentiles were to tremble in repentance, so that they too could join in this program. The ideas are very similar to those in Psalms 97.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He sits enthroned between the cherubim: let the earth be moved-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There was envisaged a dramatic theophany which would be associated with the fall of Babylon and the restoration of God's exiled people. The cherubim which Ezekiel had seen departing from Zion would return. But this isn't what happened; Judah in exile didn't really repent, and those relatively few who did return were clearly motivated by the hope of personal benefit rather than the glory of God. Babylon didn't dramatically fall as envisaged in the prophets, there was no theophany; so much potential was wasted. But these things are rescheduled and reapplied to the final restoration of God's people at the last day:&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The commands concerning the tabernacle were given to Moses by the Angel- do phrases like "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (<a href='B:20 25:8'>Exo 25:8</a>) have primary reference to the Angel speaking the words? In the same way, does <a href='B:230 99:1'>Psa 99:1</a> refer also to the physical presence of an Angel between the cherubim? Similarly "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel (the Angel- so Isaiah 63 describes the wilderness Angel), thou that leadest Joseph like a flock (the Angel lead them through the wilderness); thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth" (<a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a> AV). And again in <a href='B:230 20:1-2'>Psa 20:1-2</a> "The God of Jacob (i:e. the Angel who Jacob recognized had been so much in his life) defend thee; send thee help from the sanctuary::. ", as if it was in the sanctuary (Holy Place) that the Angel was located.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The four cherubim covered the ark, over which dwelt an Angel; <a href='B:230 99:1'>Psa 99:1</a>; <a href='B:230 99:7'>Psa 99:7</a> therefore describes the Angel as dwelling between the cherubim: "The Lord reigneth::. He sitteth between the cherubims::. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept His testimonies, and the ordinance that He gave them". These latter things were all done by the Angel. Also relevant is <a href='B:230 68:17-18'>Psa 68:17-18</a>: "The chariots of God are::. thousands of Angels; the Lord is among them, as in::. the Holy place". One Angel, which dwelt in the Holy Place, was therefore central to those thousands of others. See too <a href='B:290 37:16-17'>Isa 37:16-17</a> on thIsa. Similarly, Isaiah saw "the King, the Lord of Hosts (Angels) sitting between the cherubim" (<a href='B:290 6:5'>Isa 6:5</a>). The phrase 'living God' may mean 'the God of the living ones', and would therefore describe this mighty Angel- it is linked with "the Lord of Hosts" (Angels) in <a href='B:300 23:36'>Jer 23:36</a> and the Angel that dwelt in the temple (<a href='B:230 42:2'>Psa 42:2</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh is great in Zion, He is high above all the peoples-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Because of God's grace to Jacob / Israel (:4), an undefined group are bidden come to Zion, to the very cherubim (:1; in the Most Holy Place) to exalt and praise God at His footstool. This group, in line with the preceding Psalms, are surely the Gentile world. "Let them praise Your great Name" (<a href='B:230 99:3'>Psa 99:3</a>) would surely make most sense if it referred to the Gentiles, seeing that David or the Psalmist was Israelite. See on <a href='B:230 96:7'>Psa 96:7</a>.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let them praise Your great and awesome name: He is Holy!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "them" are the Gentile "peoples" of :2. Perhaps the triple command to 'Sing to the Lord' in the opening verses of Psalms 96 alludes to Israel's three feasts, as does the triple, repetitive verses of <a href='B:230 99:1-9'>Psa 99:1-9</a>; which likewise bid the Gentile world to come to Israel's worship. See on <a href='B:230 96:7'>Psa 96:7</a>.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The King’s strength also loves justice; You establish equity, You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This looks ahead to how things will be at the final judgment: "He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity". This is quoted in <a href='B:510 17:31'>Act 17:31</a> concerning the final day of judgment at the Lord's return. But right now, justice and righteousness were to be executed and to be the basis of the restored Kingdom. For the essence of the Kingdom is now.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Exalt Yahweh our God, worship at His footstool. He is Holy!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The ark is called both the throne of God and also His footstool (<a href='B:230 99:5'>Psa 99:5</a>; <a href='B:230 132:7-8'>Psa 132:7-8</a>; <a href='B:130 28:2'>1Ch 28:2</a>). Above or sitting upon the cherubim, the pagan mind expected to see Israel's God. But there was (to their eyes) an empty throne. Yahweh had to be believed in by faith. And His supreme manifestation was through the blood of sacrifice. Cassuto gives evidence that the Egyptians and Hittites placed their covenant contracts in a box beneath the throne of their gods; and the tables of the covenant were likewise placed beneath the throne of Yahweh. This similarity begged the comparison yet stronger- Israel's God was not seated there. He had to be believed in by faith. Such a concept of faith in an invisible god was quite foreign to the pagan mind; and yet the whole tabernacle plan was designed to have enough points of contact with the pagan tabernacles in order to elicit this point in very powerful form: the one true God is invisible and must be believed in.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Moses and Aaron were among His priests, Samuel among those who call on His name; they called on Yahweh, and He answered them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm invites the Gentiles to make Israel's God and history their own. For :5 was an invitation to the Gentiles to accept Israel's God. The Gentiles who chose to call upon Yahweh's Name (:3) would therefore be identified with Samuel and the great heroes of Israel's history. This of course was not what a proud and nationalistic Israel wanted to hear.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As God miraculously led Israel out of Egypt and to the promised land, so He was willing to use miracle and power to lead His people out of Babylonian exile and back to the promised land. But they were unwilling.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They kept His testimonies, the statute that He gave them-</p><h2>This was likewise required of the exiles. The "they" could refer to Moses, Aaron and Samuel- but the "them" in the context is the "them" to whom God spoke in the pillar of cloud, who were given God's law ("the statute that He gave them"). That group didn't include Samuel, who lived centuries later:&nbsp; The "them" is the group whose sinful works are to be judged by God, albeit in mercy (:8). The "them" is surely Israel- and this is in line with God's imputation of righteousness to His people, not beholding iniquity in Jacob, because He so loved them (<a href='B:40 23:21'>Num 23:21</a>). This is as big a problem for us to get our heads around as are the NT references to our appearing [Gk. 'being presented as'] faultless before the presence of His glory::. without spot in His sight.</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You answered them, Yahweh our God; You are a God who forgave them, although You took vengeance for their doings-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was to be true likewise of the exiles. Forgiveness would be possible, but they had to accept that they were being punished for their sins. Ezekiel records how they insisted they had been punished wrongly and unfairly.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm of thanksgiving.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David knew his sinfulness, he knew his reliance upon the grace of God, more and more as he got older. One would have thought that after the Bathsheba incident, David would have kept his mouth shut so far as telling other people how to live was concerned. But instead, we find an increasing emphasis in the Psalms (chronologically) upon David's desire to teach others of God's ways- particularly the surrounding Gentile peoples, before whom David had been disgraced over Bathsheba, not to mention from his two faced allegiance to Achish (<a href='B:90 27:8-12'>1Sa 27:8-12</a>). There is real stress upon this evangelistic fervour of David (<a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a>; <a href='B:230 18:49'>Psa 18:49</a>; <a href='B:230 22:25'>Psa 22:25</a>; <a href='B:230 22:31'>Psa 22:31</a>; <a href='B:230 35:18'>Psa 35:18</a>; <a href='B:230 40:9-10'>Psa 40:9-10</a>; <a href='B:230 57:9'>Psa 57:9</a>; <a href='B:230 62:8'>Psa 62:8</a>; <a href='B:230 66:5'>Psa 66:5</a>; <a href='B:230 66:16'>Psa 66:16</a>; <a href='B:230 95:1'>Psa 95:1</a>; <a href='B:230 95:8'>Psa 95:8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:5-8'>Psa 96:5-8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:10'>Psa 96:10</a>; <a href='B:230 100:1-4'>Psa 100:1-4</a>; <a href='B:230 105:1-2'>Psa 105:1-2</a>; <a href='B:230 119:27'>Psa 119:27</a>; <a href='B:230 145:5-6'>Psa 145:5-6</a>; <a href='B:230 145:12'>Psa 145:12</a>). Indeed, <a href='B:230 71:18'>Psa 71:18</a> records the "old and greyheaded" David pleading with God not to die until he had taught "thy strength unto this generation". As with Paul years later, the only reason he wanted to stay alive was in order to witness the Gospel of grace to others. David&nbsp;therefore coped with his deep inner traumas by looking out of himself to those around him, eagerly desiring to share with them the pureness of God's grace. He didn't do this as some kind of self-help psychiatry; it came naturally from a realization of his own sinfulness and God's mercy, and the wonderful willingness&nbsp;of God to extend this to men.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm may also have been used by or for the exiles, envisaging the day when the Gentiles would be invited to repent and join the exiles in forming a multiethnic people of God worshipping at the restored Zion. </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Serve Yahweh with gladness, come before His presence with singing-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Coming before Yahweh's presence would be an invitation to Gentiles (:1) to come and keep the feasts in the tabernacle. That Gentiles should be urged to come before His presence was a radical paradigm break with Israel's conception of themselves as God's unique people. And inviting them to "serve" Him there with singing would imply Gentiles were being asked to be priests, singing like the Levites.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Know that Yahweh, He is God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again is an invitation to the Gentiles, perhaps initially in David's time and then later at the restoration. Yahweh and not their idols was "God". The tragedy was that Israel were serving idols at the time of the restoration as Ezekiel makes clear.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is He who has made us and not we ourselves, and we are HIsa. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is a fair argument against a belief in evolution ex nihilo. We did not make ourselves, we were specifically created; and it is belief in this which leads us to trust in Him, that we are therefore His, His sheep, just as a creator intimately owns that which their own hands have created. But the essential argument is that these are the words of a repentant Israel, urging the Gentiles to join them in covenant relationship with God as equal sheep, "His", in "His pasture", a restored Israel. And it was this which they found so hard to do- to invite the Gentiles to become the sheep of Yahweh's pasture along with them. And the Jews became elitist and xenophobic in exile and at their return to "His pasture". It was the Lord Jesus who arose as the one shepherd over the flocks of both Jews and Gentiles, seeing the exiles refused to realize the potentials at their time.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, and bless His name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again is a hearty invitation to enter into the rebuilt courts of the temple with praise; and to praise a God in the God's temple meant you had accepted that God. The peoples of the time usually only changed gods because they had been militarily dominated by the people of those other gods. This is why Judah were so abhorrent for changing their gods from Yahweh to the idols of the nations around them; and they stood out amongst the nations for doing so (<a href='B:300 2:11'>Jer 2:11</a>). But here we have a repentant Israel urging the Gentiles to change their gods and accept Yahweh; on the basis of His utter grace and salvation. And they are envisaged as succeeding. But the reality at the time of the restoration was far different; and the temple finally rebuilt had a court for the Gentiles and a sign erected threatening Gentiles with death if they passed into "His gates::. into His courts". </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Yahweh is good, His grace endures forever, His faithfulness to all generations- </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :4, to appeal to other nations to change their gods was unheard of, unless that other nation had been dominated by force. But this appeal to the Gentiles was not at all on the basis of forceful domination. Rather was the root of the appeal the experience of His grace, which was eternal- it had promise of life eternal. Such grace and such a gift were of course unheard of in any other belief system or god.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm of David-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm appears to be David's expression of faith that he would one day be king. And he promises to reign in a Godly manner. It could also have been his Psalm for his ascendancy to the throne; or perhaps it was first written after Samuel anointed him.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will sing of grace and justice. To You, Yahweh, I will sing praises-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Mercy and truth" ("grace and justice") were to be the basis of David's throne because that is what upheld God's throne. And David was to reign on God's behalf, his throne was to be as God's throne (<a href='B:290 16:5'>Isa 16:5</a>; <a href='B:230 89:14'>Psa 89:14</a>; <a href='B:230 101:1'>Psa 101:1</a>). Solomon liked to imagine that his throne was likewise upheld by God as His throne, also on the basis of "mercy and truth" ("grace and justice"). But he assumed that would happen automatically, whereas David's response to this is given in Psalms 101 - he vows that he will personally reign in "grace and justice", whereas Solomon assumes that God will provide the "grace and justice" ("mercy and truth") as it were automatically (<a href='B:240 20:28'>Pro 20:28</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's heart was not consistently of integrity, as we see in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah; it was only by grace that David was counted like this (s:w. <a href='B:110 9:4'>1Ki 9:4</a>). It was indeed whilst walking within his own house that he revealed the lustful state of his heart. We query whether David was right to promise to "live a blameless life", especially since he recognizes that "a blameless life" reflects "a blameless heart". How we think in our hearts is how we live. He is clearly over confident of his own self control and righteousness. The question "When will You come to me?" is likely his request that the promise of his kingship be fulfilled soon.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will set no vile thing before my eyes; I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "vile thing" in view was likely idolatry; "faithless men", AV "them that turn aside", were those who left Yahweh for idolatry. He probably has in view Saul and his men. But David walked within his house later and looked lustfully with his eyes at Bathsheba (:2). This was his idolatry. "Not cling to me" is a quote from the law's prohibition of idolatry (<a href='B:50 13:17'>Deu 13:17</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We could understand this as AV, referring to men of perverse heart and evil doers, who David says he will put far away from his court and kingdom. He correctly understands that evil action reflects wrong thinking in the heart. But again we pause to consider that David appears over confident in his ability to judge the hearts of men, just as he was over confident in pledging that he would have a "blameless heart" himself (:2). He was to learn that he, a man after God's own heart, could still commit lust and adultery in his heart and be led thereby into the actual sin. Things were far from as black and white as he imagined in his youth.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbour. I won’t tolerate one who is haughty and conceited-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David took a strong view against slander- having suffered so much of it himself. He vowed to put to death, i:e. to set up the death sentence, for anyone caught privately slandering or backbiting against a neighbour (<a href='B:230 101:5'>Psa 101:5</a> Heb:). That’s how bad are backbiting and slander, however quietly (“privily”, the AV quaintly says) they’re done. And of course the Lord shared this understanding, by teaching that hatred of our brother is in fact the kind of murder which carried the death penalty in Old Testament times.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Chaldee and some LXX versions have "He who speaks with the triple tongue against his neighbour". The triple reference would be to the slanderer himself, the man slandered, and the person to whom the slander is told. All three are damaged by the "triple tongue"; and we see this has timeless relevance and truth.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We wonder at David's possible arrogance in assuming that he (:2) or any man can walk blamelessly; and that he could judge men that well, that he would only allow the "perfect" into his court and cabinet. Only the Lord Jesus fits thIsa. And yet this is the phrase used in God's command to Abraham and his seed (<a href='B:10 17:1'>Gen 17:1</a>), and it is maybe to this which David alludes. It was only possible for Abraham to do so by his faith in imputed righteousness, by grace through faith. But it's questionable as to whether David at this point realized that; he had to learn it through reflection upon the wonder of how God had counted him righteous after the sin with Bathsheba.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Speaks falsehood" reflects again David's deep sense of injustice (see on <a href='B:230 35:7'>Psa 35:7</a>). He uses the word for "false witness", as if they were breaking one of the ten commandments; and he uses it often, heaping condemnation upon any who dare lie / bear false witness about him (<a href='B:230 38:19'>Psa 38:19</a>; <a href='B:230 52:3'>Psa 52:3</a>; <a href='B:230 63:11'>Psa 63:11</a>; <a href='B:230 101:7'>Psa 101:7</a>; <a href='B:230 119:29'>Psa 119:29</a>; <a href='B:230 119:69'>Psa 119:69</a>; <a href='B:230 119:86'>Psa 119:86</a>; <a href='B:230 119:118'>Psa 119:118</a>; <a href='B:230 120:2'>Psa 120:2</a>; <a href='B:230 144:8'>Psa 144:8</a>; <a href='B:230 144:11'>Psa 144:11</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And yet David lied and deceived in order to get Uriah killed so that he could take his wife for himself. Surely reflection upon that sin made him realize that his zeal to condemn dishonesty was at best misplaced; to lament it is one thing, but David was to be taught that he had himself done the very thing he so condemned. David plotted the destruction of Uriah by his false words; and when he repented of this in <a href='B:230 32:2'>Psa 32:2</a>, he says that lack of deceit / guile (s:w:) is only possible through imputed righteousness. David's intolerance of "deceitful" persons (<a href='B:230 52:2'>Psa 52:2</a>; <a href='B:230 101:7'>Psa 101:7</a>; <a href='B:230 120:3'>Psa 120:3</a>) must be compared with the fact that he himself was only counted as not deceitful by grace; for he was very deceitful regarding Uriah.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to have begun as a prayer by David, lamenting that his promised restoration hasn't come, and that he continues to be in suffering. But it was appropriated by the exiles, who had the same feeling and complaint.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hear my prayer, Yahweh! Let my cry come in to You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A number of Psalms appear to have some verses relevant to the exile, and others relevant to earlier historical situations. It would seem that an inspired writer inserted the verses which spoke specifically to the exilic situation. Psalms 102 is an example. <a href='B:230 102:2-12'>Psa 102:2-12</a>; <a href='B:230 102:24-25'>Psa 102:24-25</a> a appear to be the original lament; and the other verses are relevant to the exile. This was all done under the process of Divine inspiration.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t hide Your face from me in the day of my distress, turn Your ear to me. Answer me quickly in the day when I call-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David asked God not to hide his face from him, David personally, (<a href='B:230 27:9'>Psa 27:9</a>; <a href='B:230 69:17'>Psa 69:17</a>; <a href='B:230 102:2'>Psa 102:2</a>; <a href='B:230 143:7'>Psa 143:7</a>), but to hide His face from David’s sins (<a href='B:230 51:9'>Psa 51:9</a>). And one wonders whether the way the records of the Lord’s temptations are written implies some similar recognition by the Spirit of the two ‘men’ within the Lord. Recognizing the existence of the new and old men within him, Paul can speak in Romans 7 as if he is two different people; “I myself serve the law of God”, but “my flesh” serves sin:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For my days consume away like smoke, my bones are burned as a torch-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David feels he is about to die, seeing similarities between himself and Job. And these feelings were identified with by the exiles, who perhaps felt that the national life of Israel was at an end.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My heart is blighted like grass and withered, for I forget to eat my bread-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Despite his undoubted physique stamina, David was a broken man, even quite early in his life, prone to fits of introspection; dramatic mood-swings (cp. <a href='B:90 24:14'>1Sa 24:14</a> with <a href='B:90 25:6'>1Sa 25:6</a>; <a href='B:90 25:22'>1Sa 25:22</a>; <a href='B:90 25:34'>1Sa 25:34</a>;), sometimes appearing a real 'softie' but hard as nails at others (consider <a href='B:230 75:10'>Psa 75:10</a> and the whole of Psalms 101); easily getting carried away: be it with excessive emotional enthusiasm for bringing the ark back, in his harsh response to Hanun humbling his servants, his over-hasty and emotional decision to let Amnon go to Absalom's feast when it was obvious what might well transpire, his anger "flaring up" because of incompetency (<a href='B:100 11:20'>2Sa 11:20</a> NIV),&nbsp; or in his ridiculous softness for Absalom. He had a heart cruelly torn so many ways. All these traits are amply reflected in the Psalms: <a href='B:230 6:7'>Psa 6:7</a>; <a href='B:230 31:10'>Psa 31:10</a>; <a href='B:230 42:3'>Psa 42:3</a>; <a href='B:230 42:6'>Psa 42:6</a>; <a href='B:230 38:8'>Psa 38:8</a>; <a href='B:230 55:4'>Psa 55:4</a>; <a href='B:230 56:8'>Psa 56:8</a>; <a href='B:230 69:3'>Psa 69:3</a>; <a href='B:230 69:29'>Psa 69:29</a>; <a href='B:230 88:3'>Psa 88:3</a>; <a href='B:230 88:9'>Psa 88:9</a>; <a href='B:230 94:19'>Psa 94:19</a> (what introspection!); 102:4; 116:3; 143:4.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones stick to my skin-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This has connections with David's Psalms of suffering at the time of Absalom's rebellion, which are often applied to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the cross. He there also knew the feelings of the exiles.</p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I am like a pelican of the wilderness, I have become as an owl of the waste places-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>These were ritually unclean birds. The exiles felt unclean, without access to the cleansing rituals of the law because they required a temple and priesthood which had been destroyed. They were thereby driven to seek their cleansing not by law but by grace. LXX heightens the application to the ruined Zion: "like an owl in a ruined house". Often David likens his enemies' plans to catch him as snares, gins etc. set for birds (e:g. <a href='B:230 84:3'>Psa 84:3</a>; <a href='B:230 102:6'>Psa 102:6</a>; Psalms 124; Psalms 7; <a href='B:230 140:5'>Psa 140:5</a>)- all the language of hunting birds. He had probably done plenty of this as a youngster caring for the sheep, and the influence of those formative years remained.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The connection between watching and feeling like a sparrow is in the way that David, Hezekiah, the exiles etc. all 'watched' or waited for God to respond and intervene, and His apparent silence made them feel alone. The Psalm originated in David's feelings of dejection whilst enduring the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba- which all began with his lustful looking from his housetop. And he now feels alone on that housetop; for one result of sin is psychological isolation. Yet through that loneliness there is enabled even more powerful and intimate connection with God.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My enemies reproach me all day, those who are mad at me use my name as a curse-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "they that praised me have sworn against me". The initial application was probably to the rebellion of David's former friends, when they joined forces with Absalom. The language is again based upon Job, whose book was probably one of the few scriptures available to David. The application to the exiles is very clear.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may be another allusion to Job (see on :8), attempting to describe in words his grief. But it could also be a reference to his fasting which had apparently not brought about any response from God.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>because of Your indignation and Your wrath; for You have taken me up, and thrown me away-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is, lifted me up and thrown me down. This could refer to David's sense of having been exalted to the throne, and then apparently cast down at Absalom's rebellion. But the idea also alludes to a lion, lifting up and then throwing down the prey it has caught. The Babylonians were likened to lions, and this indeed is how they treated Judah.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My days are like a long shadow, I have withered like grass-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>After the initial application to David, there is clearly some reference to Hezekiah, whose days were lengthened by the shadow on the sundial being changed. LXX "have declined like a shadow". The same ideas are in <a href='B:230 109:23'>Psa 109:23</a>. David's feelings at this time are also appropriate to Hezekiah, whose feelings were responded to by God by making the shadow of the sundial reverse. The same words are used in <a href='B:120 20:10'>2Ki 20:10</a>. But the withering like grass is the language of the restoration prophecy of <a href='B:290 40:7-8'>Isa 40:7-8</a>. Even though the grass of that generation might wither, the prophetic word of restoration would ultimately come true:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But You, Yahweh, will remain forever; Your renown endures to all generations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Despite the pain and struggle arising from feeling that God isn't coming through for the psalmist as he expects, there is this significant statement beginning "But::.". Faith remains strong in God and His eternal purpose and the continual, eventual articulation of His name. This kind of juxtaposition of doubt and ultimate faith is common in Job and the Psalms and should be our pattern to:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have pity on her, yes, the set time has come-</p><h2>When “the time to favour Zion” came, at the end of the 70 years, God’s servants Israel were to “take pleasure in her stones, and favour [even] the dust thereof”; and then, “when the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory” (<a href='B:230 102:13-16'>Psa 102:13-16</a>). But the few Jews who returned chose not to live in Jerusalem, preferring to carve out for themselves farmsteads in the countryside (<a href='B:160 11:1'>Neh 11:1</a>), and the strength of those that shifted the rubble in Jerusalem decayed</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>they saw her dust and scattered stones as a nuisance, and didn’t take pleasure in them (<a href='B:160 4:10'>Neh 4:10</a>). And so the Lord could not then appear in glory:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "set time" of 70 years was however elastic; as Daniel and Ezekiel were taught. The period was extended due to Judah's impenitence, and Daniel 9 explains how it was turned into seventy sevens::. and the final restoration of a redefined Zion was to be through the work of the Lord Jesus.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The set time" is a phrase used about the feasts, and there is reason to believe that God delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians at Passover time (see on <a href='B:230 75:2'>Psa 75:2</a>) and would do so again. All these things look forward to the final "time" coming for Zion's final deliverance at the last day.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was only true of a minority, for the majority preferred the opulence of Babylon to the rubble of Jerusalem. And as noted on :13, the few who did return initially preferred not to live in Jerusalem. But the argument of the psalmist is that as the exiles had "pity" on the dust of Jerusalem, so God should "pity" Zion (:13). But the reality was that most of the exiles didn't "pity" Zion as God did, and thus precluded His potential program for her restoration into the Kingdom of God on earth at that time.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So the nations will fear the name of Yahweh; all the kings of the earth Your glory-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Psalms 102 has many connections with the events during the time of Hezekiah, when after the salvation of Zion, the surrounding nations in the land promised to Abraham came up to worship there. Here, “the nations” refers specifically to “the kings of the earth / land”. And one wonders how many other times the phrase “the nations</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> of the earth” refers specifically to the powers in the land from the Nile to the Euphrates. But the great prophetic potential at this time was precluded by Hezekiah welcoming those kings to see his glory rather than God's; and then going after their gods, rather than leading those nations to the God of Israel. Likewise the restoration was intended to lead the nations within the eretz promised to Abraham to see Yahweh's glory, which was intended to shine forth literally and morally from Zion. But this didn't happen, and the restoration was characterized by apostasy, whilst the Jews who remained in Babylon continued in their idolatry, as Ezekiel records.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Yahweh has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He had not then done so (:13)- the earlier part of the Psalm laments thIsa. But the Psalmist believed in God’s prophecies of doing so, and considered them as good as already fulfilled. Faith is all about adopting God’s perspective, seeing future promises as if they have already been fulfilled, thereby enabling us to live the Kingdom life now in its essence. But LXX reads this in the future tense: "For the Lord shall build up Sion, and shall appear in his glory". This glory of Yahweh appearing in Zion is a theme of the restoration prophecies of later Isaiah. This could have happened, had the exiles rebuilt the temple as commanded in Ezekiel 40-48. But they didn't, and so the shekinah glory didn't return to the temple as envisaged in the prophecies.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :16, the prayer had not yet been answered. But faith is about feeling and acting as if our prayers have been answered even when they haven't been (<a href='B:480 11:24'>Mar 11:24</a>). The captives were despised (s:w. <a href='B:160 2:19'>Neh 2:19</a>) as David was for his sin (s:w. <a href='B:230 22:6'>Psa 22:6</a>; <a href='B:230 22:24'>Psa 22:24</a>), and as was the Lord Jesus on the cross (s:w. <a href='B:290 53:3'>Isa 53:3</a>), but God did not despise them and would destroy that opposition. Yet perhaps it had a historical basis in David appreciating that although he had despised God in his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah (s:w. <a href='B:100 12:10'>2Sa 12:10</a>), God by grace had not despised him. Because God did not despise David's contrite and broken heart (s:w. <a href='B:230 51:17'>Psa 51:17</a>, a passage also alluded to in :31). The exiles had likewise despised God (s:w. <a href='B:330 16:59'>Eze 16:59</a>) but would not be despised by God.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This connects with Isaiah's restoration prophecies of a new creation, of a multiethnic people of God comprised of repentant Jews as well as those of the nations amongst whom they had been in exile. But this didn't happen. The people didn't repent as required. And so the prophetic potential of a new creation of a new people of God was reapplied and rescheduled to the new creation of that people which occurs "in Christ" (<a href='B:540 5:17'>2Co 5:17</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For He has looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven, Yahweh saw the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is an awesome conception; that God in Heaven 'sees the earth'. That the huge distance between God and man is collapsed. God's sanctuary was in ruins on earth, but still existed in Heaven.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>to hear the groans of the prisoner-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same phrase used of God hearing the groans of Israel in Egypt. The idea was that God would miraculously empower an exodus from Babylon just as He had delivered His people from Egypt. Tragically, most of them preferred to remain in Babylon.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>To free those who are condemned to death-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "to loosen the sons of the slain". This would mean that the Psalm refers to the second generation of exiles, whose parents had been slain. For the exiles in Babylon / Persia were prosperous, as witnessed by the situation in the book of Esther. They were not "condemned to death"; although perhaps Haman's persecution is here in view.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>that men may declare the name of Yahweh in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that the "men" who would return in the new exodus from Babylon (see on :20) would be Gentiles as well as Jews; and this is confirmed in :22. Praise is here defined as declaring the Yahweh Name. Praise is about appreciating the characteristics of Yahweh, which is what His "Name" is all about; and declaring them in praise. It was God who declared His Name to Moses, but here we have Gentiles declaring that same Name, having come in homage to Jerusalem to do so. This was the potential at the restoration, but the prophetic program was rescheduled and reinterpreted.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>when the peoples are gathered together, the kingdoms, to serve Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Gentiles were to gather together to Jerusalem "to serve Yahweh", language appropriate to priestly service. They who had gathered together against Jerusalem in battle were to repent and again gather together there, but as the priesthood in the new people of God who were to be created (see on :18):&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He weakened my strength along the course, He shortened my days-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "He answered him in the way of his strength". God's strength is contrasted with the Psalmist who feels his days have been "shortened". This may initially refer to David at the time of his disease after the sin with Bathsheba, feeling he was going to die young. But it has clearly been reapplied to Hezekiah's feelings when his days were shortened and then lengthened by God's grace:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I said, My God, don’t take me away in the midst of my days. Your years are throughout all generations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :23, both David and Hezekiah felt their lives were being ended in the middle. The appeal for healing and more life is based upon God's eternity. The psalmist is asking for God to share something of His eternity with him. And this will be ultimately true when we partake of His immortality at the last day.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Of old, You laid the foundation of the earth, the heavens are the work of Your hands-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The language of laying foundations is nearly always used about the laying of the foundations of the new, rebuilt temple at the time of return from exile (<a href='B:150 3:10-12'>Ezr 3:10-12</a>; <a href='B:150 5:16'>Ezr 5:16</a>; <a href='B:290 44:28'>Isa 44:28</a>; <a href='B:440 2:18'>Hag 2:18</a>; <a href='B:450 4:9'>Zec 4:9</a>; <a href='B:450 8:9'>Zec 8:9</a>); and this is the context of this Psalm (see on :13 and :16). The ‘heavens and earth’ refer to Israel (<a href='B:290 1:2'>Isa 1:2</a>) and the temple. Although they had ‘perished’ in the Babylonian invasion and destruction of the first temple, God remained and would, the Psalmist believed, install a new temple system (as outlined in Ezekiel 40-48). However, this never quite happened as God intended due to Judah’s weakness, and so these prophecies were reapplied to how the entire Jewish system based around the temple and Law of Moses would ‘perish’ and God’s new temple system based around the exalted Lord Jesus would come into existence (<a href='B:650 1:10'>Heb 1:10</a> and context).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They perish, but You will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the same way as the Angels are so closely associated with their charges that they are identified with them, so the Angels are described as the things in the natural world which they have created. The quotation of <a href='B:230 102:26'>Psa 102:26</a> in <a href='B:650 1:10'>Heb 1:10</a> can appear to pose major problems for belief in the humanity of Christ and that the world will never be destroyed. "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations&nbsp; of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands: they shall perish, but Thou remainest, and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail". The context in Hebrews is again Christ's superiority over the Angels; however, the context in Psalms 102 is of Christ on the cross thinking of the eternity of God, how that "of old", "in the beginning" (clearly alluding&nbsp; back to the beginning of the natural creation in Genesis 1), God created the Heavens and earth by His Angel-hands. But "they shall perish. . wax old like a garment. . as a vesture shalt thou change them" (<a href='B:230 102:26'>Psa 102:26</a>). This language is similar to that used elsewhere about the ending of the Angel-oriented Mosaic Law (e. g. <a href='B:650 8:13'>Heb 8:13</a>). Thus the literal Heavens and earth will not perish, but the Angelic system that created them will do. Thus both the natural creation and the Mosaic system are identified exactly with the Angels that created them.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The purpose of the quotation in Hebrews 1 is to demonstrate the Lord's superiority over Angels. One approach is to understand the Hebraic way of stating that 'even X shall happen to prove the greatness of Y'; e:g. heaven could pass away [X] but the Lord's words would not [Y] (<a href='B:470 24:35'>Mat 24:35</a>). This is not to say that X shall literally happen; it is stated as a hyperbole, to demonstrate the greatness of Y. And that may be the case here too. God's eternity is contrasted with the [relative] passing of the Heavens, which were made by Angels. "They shall perish" may not therefore mean they shall literally perish. See on <a href='B:230 103:20'>Psa 103:20</a>.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The context of Psalms 102 is however pertinent. The "set time [had] come" suggests that the Psalmist is writing maybe in captivity in Babylon as the predicted 70 years of Judah’s captivity there came to a close, and he looks forward to the promised restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem. He enthuses in :16 that "Yahweh has built up Zion"- although He had not then done so (:13). The earlier part of the Psalm laments thIsa. But the Psalmist believed in God’s prophecies of doing so, and considered them as good as already fulfilled. Faith is all about adopting God’s perspective, seeing future promises as if they have already been fulfilled, thereby enabling us to live the Kingdom life now in its essence. See on :25.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Jewish system would be rolled up, as a scroll that is not going to be read any more; the Law would end. But Messiah would remain eternally. It was the Lord Jesus by His sacrifice which changed the Jewish system. The same Greek word (used in the LXX and the quotation in <a href='B:650 1:12'>Heb 1:12</a>) is used of the Lord's 'changing' the customs delivered by Moses (<a href='B:510 6:14'>Act 6:14</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But You are the same, Your years will have no end-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:650 1:10'>Heb 1:10</a> appears to quote words about God (from <a href='B:230 102:25'>Psa 102:25</a>) and apply them to Jesus. To take a Psalm or Bible passage and apply it to someone on earth, even a normal human, was quite common in first century literature (Oscar Cullmann, The Christology Of The New Testament (London: SCM, 1971) p. 234). It's rather like we may quote a well known phrase from Shakespeare or a currently popular movie, and apply it to someone. It doesn't mean that that person is to be equated with Romeo, Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth etc. By quoting the words about them, we're saying there are similarities between the two people or situations; we're not claiming they're identical. And seeing that the Son of God was functioning for His Father, it's not surprising that words about God will be quoted about the Lord Jesus.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>By David-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have often suggested that the Psalms are often paired together. Psalms 103 appears to continue the faith expressed in Psalms 102; that whatever present appearances, God's purpose to ultimately restore David and his throne / kingdom was going to come true, finally. The exiles doubted it, but the faithful remnant were to rejoice that finally, it would come true- even if not in their lifetimes. Such confident joy presupposes a firm faith and understanding of the resurrection of the body at the final eternal restoration of Zion.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise Yahweh, my soul! All that is within me, praise His holy name!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is a repeated Biblical theme that the believer's relationship with the Father is essentially mutual. He has blessed us with all things (<a href='B:560 1:3'>Eph 1:3</a>), and we all bless Him with all that is in us (<a href='B:230 103:1'>Psa 103:1</a>; <a href='B:230 103:22'>Psa 103:22</a>; <a href='B:560 1:3'>Eph 1:3</a>). </p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise Yahweh, my soul, and don’t forget all His benefits-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David often takes strength from God's previous deliverances to cope with whatever he was now facing (<a href='B:230 61:3'>Psa 61:3</a>). This may sound natural, but in fact it isn't; because we are inclined to forget the great things He has done for us, as Israel did in the desert. We all have a tendency to see the glass half empty rather than half full. Hence the need to continually remind ourselves to not forget all His benefits; and they are particularly expressed in the form of His forgiveness and avowed intention to finally save us (:3,4). Hezekiah, to whom Psalms 102 (which seems paired with Psalms 103) partly applies, did forget Yahweh's benefits to him (s:w. <a href='B:140 32:25'>2Ch 32:25</a>). But "benefits" is also the word used for "rewards", which rewards of judgment are promised to Babylon and all who abused the exiles (<a href='B:230 137:8'>Psa 137:8</a>; <a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a>; <a href='B:290 59:18'>Isa 59:18</a>; <a href='B:300 51:6'>Jer 51:6</a>; <a href='B:310 3:64'>Lam 3:64</a>). The downtrodden were to take comfort in judgment to come.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The blessing which should never be forgotten (:2) is supremely our forgiveness. Hezekiah had been healed, but he forgot that great "benefit" (:2; s:w. <a href='B:140 32:25'>2Ch 32:25</a>). In those times when we consider our cup half empty rather than half full, we will be helped to appreciate "all His benefits" if we recall our own forgiveness received. It is those who refuse to accept their own sinfulness who tend to question where God's promised blessings are.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with grace and tender mercies-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :2,3, the great blessing is of forgiveness and grace. God's "mercy and truth" (s:w. "grace::. mercies") is seen in the fulfilment of His promises to David and Abraham. This day of crowning is not now; it is at the time when our life is redeemed from death / destruction. This hope of the future resurrection of the body is the great "benefit" of :2 which we must never forget, and which gives perspective to all current sufferings.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "desire" of all the truly spiritual is for redemption from death (:4) through resurrection to eternal life, and the receipt of forgiveness (:3). It is these desires of our soul which will definitely be met, if indeed they are our dominant desires. As God doesn’t faint or weary, so somehow those who identify their lives with His will also keep on keeping on- even now (<a href='B:290 40:31'>Isa 40:31</a> cp. 29). This was clearly the promise to the exiles, if they realized the prophetic potential for them explained in Isaiah 40. David felt that his youth was renewed like the eagle's in his repeated experience of God's grace (<a href='B:230 103:5'>Psa 103:5</a>), that his soul was restored (<a href='B:230 23:5'>Psa 23:5</a>), and that a right spirit could be renewed by God within him (<a href='B:230 51:10'>Psa 51:10</a>). This is the equivalent of the "newness of life" which is promised to us through acceptance of God's Spirit.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles and David at times felt they were suffering injustice. But the comfort is that God has historically been just to the oppressed and executed judgment, especially at the Red Sea. This is where faith comes in. If we feel we are suffering intolerable injustice, this is no reason to doubt God; for He has operated extreme justice in the past, and shall do so ultimately.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David so often parallels righteousness and justice / truth (<a href='B:230 9:8'>Psa 9:8</a>; <a href='B:230 33:5'>Psa 33:5</a>; <a href='B:230 37:6'>Psa 37:6</a>; <a href='B:230 72:2'>Psa 72:2</a>; <a href='B:230 94:15'>Psa 94:15</a>; <a href='B:230 99:7'>Psa 99:7</a>; <a href='B:230 103:6'>Psa 103:6</a>; <a href='B:230 106:3'>Psa 106:3</a>). Indeed, this parallel is so common in God's word. What it means is that the righteousness of God is a just righteousness. It's not fake, 'I'll turn a blind eye'. It is true, real, valid, and has integrity underpinned in the very essential justice of God Himself. Justice and righteousness may appear abstract ideas, mere theology. But the result is that the person who believes God's righteousness is imputed to him or her::. will feel this, they will know it to be true, they can by grace, in faith, quietly hold their head up before God. And David after Bathsheba is our example. He believed and felt this imputed righteousness. It's not so much a case of 'forgiving ourselves' after God has forgiven us, but rather of being swamped by this very real and legitimate sense that truly, we have been counted righteous. And Paul in Romans holds up David after Bathsheba as the personal example to "every one who is Godly" in their time of spiritual need. See on <a href='B:230 41:12'>Psa 41:12</a>.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the children of Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This could refer to the revelation of God's law to Israel. The commands which constituted the covenant were given to Moses personally (<a href='B:160 1:7-8'>Neh 1:7-8</a>), insofar as he represented Israel. Thus there is a parallel drawn in <a href='B:230 103:7'>Psa 103:7</a>: "He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel". "After the tenor of these words have I made a covenant with you [Moses] and with Israel" (<a href='B:20 34:27'>Exo 34:27</a>). The revelation of God's law was therefore cited as an example of His love and grace; it is not to be seen as an onerous burden laid upon Israel.</p><h2>But the reference could also be to God's revelation of Himself through His saving deeds towards Israel at the Red Sea, or to the declaration of His Name in Exodus 34 (see on :8). Just as is true today, and as is often mentioned in Psalms 119, God is willing to operate directly on the hearts of men in a way over and above His written word. David realized this, and asked to be taught and shown God's ways (<a href='B:230 25:4'>Psa 25:4</a>; <a href='B:230 143:8'>Psa 143:8</a>). Knowledge in its ultimate, spiritual sense is not attained simply by reading or hearing the text of the Bible; not that I am at all decrying that. But there is a higher, Divine hand at work in making us know Divine knowledge. Moses had prayed the same words in <a href='B:20 33:13'>Exo 33:13</a>: "Show me [make me to know] Your way, that I may know [s:w. "show"] You [and] find grace in Your sight". The gift of knowledge, in the Hebraic sense of relationship, is related to God's grace. That knowledge which is in view is not the same as technical, theological knowledge. Moses' prayer was answered; the same words are used here in saying that God "made known His ways to Moses":&nbsp;</h2>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in grace-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is an appeal to the essential characteristics of Yahweh as declared to Moses in Exodus 34, and it is perhaps to this that :7 refers. On one hand, God does not become quickly angry (<a href='B:230 103:8'>Psa 103:8</a>), and yet on the other hand He does&nbsp;get angry quickly in the sense that He immediately feels and responds to sin (<a href='B:230 2:12'>Psa 2:12</a>); His anger ‘flares up in His face’. The implication is that we should respond ‘quickly’ to the Gospel; we should not have any element of indifference in our response to the call of God, and yet the foundations of a true spiritual life cannot be laid hastily. </p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will not always accuse; neither will He stay angry forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may be answer to the complaint of the exiles that God through the prophets was always 'accusing' them through the prophetic words. But "accuse" is the word for 'striving', and it was Israel who had chosen to strive with God (s:w. <a href='B:290 45:9'>Isa 45:9</a> and often). From God's side, His 'accusing' was more of a pleading with His people (s:w. <a href='B:300 2:9'>Jer 2:9</a>; <a href='B:300 2:29'>Jer 2:29</a>), pleading for their loyalty and repentance (s:w. <a href='B:350 2:2'>Hos 2:2</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was exactly the case with the exiles, who were punished far less than their sins deserved (<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>). All complaint at unreasonable behaviour from God was therefore utterly inappropriate, and was rooted in a sense that Israel had done absolutely nothing wrong and that any consequence for sin was therefore unreasonable.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His grace toward those who fear Him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same word used for how David's sins "overwhelmed me" (<a href='B:230 65:3'>Psa 65:3</a>) is used of how overwhelming or "great" is God's grace (<a href='B:230 103:11'>Psa 103:11</a>; <a href='B:230 117:2'>Psa 117:2</a>). David felt overwhelmed firstly by his sin and then by God's grace. This explains his fragile emotional and nervous state, as often reflected in the Psalms. But his path is to be that of all God's true Israel, and his repentance and restoration was intended to be the path for the exiles.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was appropriate to Hezekiah (<a href='B:290 38:17'>Isa 38:17</a>), but he like the exiles failed to have an abiding awareness of the magnitude of the wonder of forgiveness. The idea is that God deals with us separate to our sins; He removes those sins "from us", they are totally removed from us personally. This is another window onto what it means to be accounted righteous, to have righteousness imputed by grace through faith. God had removed His people far from Him (s:w. <a href='B:290 6:12'>Isa 6:12</a>; <a href='B:290 26:15'>Isa 26:15</a>; <a href='B:300 27:10'>Jer 27:10</a>) because they had removed their hearts far from Him (s:w. <a href='B:290 29:13'>Isa 29:13</a>; <a href='B:300 2:5'>Jer 2:5</a>; <a href='B:330 44:10'>Eze 44:10</a>). So now the psalmist is asking God to remove their sins far away, but to come near to them personally.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Like a father has compassion on His children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear Him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>That "compassion" is not simply in that a father forgives a repentant child. Fatherly compassion is more than that; it is compassion upon the position of the child regardless of repentance. Simply because he is the father of the child. This statement may be a tacit request by the psalmist for God to all the same restore His people from their exile simply on the basis of His grace and compassion, for most of them had not repented. The word for "compassion" is used of how God would have compassion on His people if they repented whilst in exile (<a href='B:50 30:3'>Deu 30:3</a>). But the psalmist seems to plead for that compassion to be shown simply because they were His children.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For He knows how we are made, He remembers that we are dust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is effectively a plea with God to remember that "we are dust" and to show compassion on the basis of the weakness of our humanity (see on :13). But the basis for that compassion was to be Israel's repentance (<a href='B:50 30:13'>Deu 30:13</a> etc:). But here the psalmist seems to plead some kind of idea that our nature makes us inevitable sinners, and so God should show compassion on that basIsa. We aren't inevitable sinners, and whatever we posit about human nature, we say about the Lord Jesus who was perfect and spotless despite fully having that same nature as we do. So the plea appears rather lacking in integrity. And yet it is true; God does remember that we are dust, and He does have compassion for reasons other than that His people have repented (s:w. <a href='B:120 13:23'>2Ki 13:23</a>). His compassion is therefore on the basis of His mercy and grace, rather than a proportionate response to steel willed human repentance and self reformation (s:w. <a href='B:230 116:5'>Psa 116:5</a>). His compassion is actually always there for His children, even when they are in exiled punishment from Him (s:w. <a href='B:300 31:20'>Jer 31:20</a>; <a href='B:300 33:26'>Jer 33:26</a>). Solomon failed to perceive this grace, instead focusing solely upon the aspect of God showing compassion to those who are repentant (s:w. <a href='B:240 28:13'>Pro 28:13</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As for man, His days are like grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourishes-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the language used of the exiles in <a href='B:290 40:6-8'>Isa 40:6-8</a>. The idea is that the exiles were indeed like this, as are all men. But Isaiah explains that the prophetic word of restoration was to come true, even if the men of that generation faded into death. This is taught here in different words, assuring them that God's promised grace would not fail and His throne was indeed eternal and therefore would be reestablished on earth (:17,19).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the wind passes over it, and it is gone. Its place remembers it no more- &nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again is David alluding to the feelings of Job (<a href='B:220 7:10'>Job 7:10</a>; <a href='B:220 20:9'>Job 20:9</a>), one of the few books of scripture he had access to. But despite this understanding of the mortality of man, David is confident that God's grace will be manifest eternally to His people (:17). This can only have any sense if he understood there to be a resurrection of the body, to eternal experience of God's grace.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But Yahweh’s grace is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear Him, His righteousness to children’s children-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :16. We note the parallel of grace and righteousness. Paul in Romans 1-8 explores this; the gift of grace is not of cheap grace, a turning of a blind eye to sin. The gift is of righteousness, counting right the sinner, by God the judge of all. This is by grace, but it has to be believed. This gift of imputed righteousness "is of faith that it might be by grace" (<a href='B:520 4:16'>Rom 4:16</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>to those who keep His covenant, to those who remember to obey His precepts-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The keeping of the covenant, in the context of what was explained on :17, effectively means to keep on believing in God's amazing, saving grace towards sinners. "Remember" doesn't here suggest that they are commended for not being forgetful. The Hebrew carries the idea of having the mind full. Our fully conscious desire to obey His ways is going to be an outcome of continuing to believe His covenant, which promises salvation by pure grace (:17) rather than obedience. So the obedience here in view is in response to the covenant of grace, which offers salvation by grace and not works. These works of obedience are therefore done in gratitude for a salvation already received by grace, rather than in order to achieve a worthiness for that salvation.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh has established His throne in the heavens, His kingdom rules over all-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles were looking for the Kingdom to be reestablished, just as David was looking for his throne to be reestablished in Absalom's time, and as he looked to have his own throne at Saul's time. But the comfort was that that throne was already established in Heaven, even if it wasn't visible on earth. And this is our comfort too.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We are to pray for His Kingdom to come, so that His will may be done on earth (<a href='B:470 6:10'>Mat 6:10</a>). The Kingdom and the doing of His will are therefore paralleled. His Kingdom reigns over all in Heaven, for there, all the Angels are obedient to Him (<a href='B:230 103:19-21'>Psa 103:19-21</a>). By praying for the Kingdom to come on earth we are not only praying for the Lord’s second coming, but for the progress of the Gospel world-wide right now. Not only that more men and women will hear it and respond, but that those who have accepted it might work God’s will rather than their own to an ever greater extent. Whether or not we can physically spread the Gospel is in this sense irrelevant; our prayer should be, first and foremost if the pattern of the Lord’s prayer is to be taken exactly, for the triumph of the Gospel world-wide.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise Yahweh, you angels of His, who are mighty in strength, who fulfil His word, obeying the voice of His word-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggested on :1 that this Psalm is paired with Psalms 102; and indirectly, that too concludes at this point in the structure of the Psalm with reference to Angels. See on <a href='B:230 102:26'>Psa 102:26</a>. The relevance of mentioning the power of the Angels is caught in the LXX: "mighty in strength, who perform his bidding,&nbsp;ready&nbsp;to hearken to the voice of his words". The word they were ready and eager to fulfil was the word of restoring Zion. They could bring this about; but Israel on earth had to be willing to return, both to their land and their God. And such vast potential was thereby wasted at the time.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise Yahweh, all you armies of His, you servants of His, who do His will-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Angels are given specific directives by God which they go and execute to the best of their ability and then report back to God- His "Angels::. that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word" (<a href='B:230 103:21'>Psa 103:21</a>). They were eager to do this in the context of performing God's will of saving and restoring Zion. We must note that the Angels as in supernatural beings are never divided into good ones and wicked ones. "All" the Angels are obedient to God's word. They are immortal (<a href='B:490 20:35-36'>Luk 20:35-36</a>) and therefore don't sin (<a href='B:520 6:23'>Rom 6:23</a>). However the Greek and Hebrew word translated "Angel" is also used of human beings, who of course can sin:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh, my God, You are very great. You are clothed with honour and majesty-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This translation misses the fact that the Hebrew here is full of verbs and not adjectives; the reference is to a series of actions, rather than a state. Yahweh is seen as having done something which makes Him very great, creating majesty and honour for Himself through an action. It could be that the psalmist has in view the envisaged restoration of God's Kingdom on earth at the time of the restoration; which would explain the references in some verses to a time of present oppression at the hands of the Gentiles. The psalmist looks ahead to this day as if it has happened. This didn't happen then as planned, but has been rescheduled and reapplied to the last day.</p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He covers Himself with light as with a garment, He stretches out the heavens like a curtain-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The heavens" at times refer to the temple or sanctuary, which perhaps is why the idea of a curtain is used, recalling the various curtains of the tabernacle. The reference may be to the hope that God would reestablish the sanctuary, and appear clothed as it were in the light of the shekinah glory over the ark. This idea of God as a figure shrouded in light is used by Ezekiel in describing the visions of cherubic glory. That cherubic system, with the form of a Divine "man" above them, was envisaged as returning to Zion. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He lays the beams of His rooms in the waters, He makes the clouds His chariot, He walks on the wings of the wind-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This continues the allusion to the cherubim (see on :2). The idea may be that the reestablishment and rebuilding of the Kingdom would begin "in the waters" in that the beams, the people, were to be prepared whilst in exile amongst the waters of the Gentiles. "Room" or "chambers" is the word used of the rebuilding of Zion in <a href='B:160 3:31-32'>Neh 3:31-32</a>, and of the envisaged rebuilding of the temple in <a href='B:330 40:49'>Eze 40:49</a>; <a href='B:330 41:7'>Eze 41:7</a>. But the Jews didn't build as required in Ezekiel 40-48; they precluded the help of the Angel cherubim, upon whom God was eager to ride forth for them.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He makes His Angels winds; His servants flames of fire-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on Psalms 102 and Psalms 103, the reference to the Angels is to encourage Judah that the vast Angel cherubim system alluded to in :2,3 was ready and eager to go forth for God's people:&nbsp; The allusion is to the statement of God's greatness at the end of Job, a book of encouragement to the exiles (see on <a href='B:220 1:1'>Job 1:1</a>): "Canst thou send lightnings (Angels) that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are (Septuagint: 'We do Thy pleasure?')" (<a href='B:220 38:35'>Job 38:35</a>). In the Hezekiah context, the reference could be to how the Angel which destroyed the Assyrians did so using fire (see on <a href='B:230 46:9'>Psa 46:9</a>). We note that the Angels are God's servants; there is never any hint in the Bible that the "Angels" [as in supernatural beings] are divided into groups of wicked and righteous. <a href='B:230 83:14'>Psa 83:14</a>; <a href='B:230 97:3'>Psa 97:3</a> speak of God as "flames of fire" burning up Israel's enemies. He was ready and able, through the Angel cherubim, to overcome all opposition to a restored Kingdom of God in Israel. But despite this, most of the exiles preferred to remain in Babylon. Just as many today likewise turn down the opportunity to be part of God's Kingdom.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggested on :1 that this is a reference to the envisaged restoration. God was not going to allow the eretz promised to Abraham to be moved, ultimately; even though its people had temporarily been moved into exile. LXX gives the sense: "Who establishes the earth on her sure foundation". The reference is not to God's creation of the planet, but to His reestablishment of the Kingdom of God in the earth / land of Israel.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You covered it with the deep sea as with a cloak. The waters stood above the mountains-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:230 104:5-9'>Psa 104:5-9</a> describes “the earth” as being covered with the deep, and “the waters stood above the mountains”- clearly alluding to the flood. Yet these mountains are those which are “a refuge for the wild goats</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> conies” (<a href='B:230 104:18'>Psa 104:18</a> RV). These sound like the mountains of Israel / the Middle East rather than any other part of the world. The idea is that during the exile, the land was as it were covered with the flood; but would reemerge into a wonderful new age. Isaiah likewise speaks of how God would consider the years in exile as "the waters of Noah" (<a href='B:290 54:9'>Isa 54:9</a>), and would never be repeated once the Kingdom was reestablished.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>At Your rebuke they fled, at the voice of Your thunder they hurried away-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same phrase used of the fleeing away of the waters of the Red Sea at the theophany which occurred then; see on <a href='B:230 77:17'>Psa 77:17</a>. The waters are spoken of as living entities because they represented the heathen nations opposing Israel at the time; and this miracle was just as possible for God's people at the time of Hezekiah and later, the exiles.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The mountains rose, the valleys sank down, to the place which You had assigned to them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The reference seems to be to the changed topography after the flood, and this is the imagery used about the restoration in <a href='B:290 40:4'>Isa 40:4</a>. The valleys would be lifted up and the mountains brought down [they very opposite of what is described as happening here after the flood], in order to pave the way for the coming of Messiah and God's glory to Zion. "Assigned" is the word used for the "foundation" of the rebuilt temple (<a href='B:150 3:6'>Ezr 3:6</a>; <a href='B:150 3:10'>Ezr 3:10</a>). This potential wasn't realized at the restoration, and was reapplied to the Lord Jesus:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have set a boundary that they may not pass over; that they don’t turn again to cover the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Just as the flood waters (see on :6,7) would never return to destroy the earth, so the Babylonian destruction was potentially the final such judgment upon God's people. But their impenitence and continued sin precluded this from being the case, and so this idea of the waters [representing the nations around Israel] never covering the earth again was rescheduled to the last day. "Boundary" is the usual word used for the border of the promised land. But the rivers and floodwaters of the invading armies were frequently sent by God over this border even after the Babylonian invasion. The truth was that Judah's princes had removed the border in throwing themselves open to the gods and influences of the nations around them (s:w. <a href='B:350 5:10'>Hos 5:10</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He sends forth springs into the valleys, they run among the mountains-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The waters of the Gentile nations would be assuaged, but God would send forth His own waters, not to destroy but to create.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They give drink to every animal of the field, the wild donkeys quench their thirst-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Every" may imply 'both clean and unclean', with the unclean wild donkeys being cited as an example. God's care and saving purpose is thereby declared as being for all.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The birds of the sky nest by them, they sing among the branches-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:470 13:32'>Mat 13:32</a> uses this imagery in describing the Kingdom of God. The picture here is of how God's waters would create a restored Kingdom of God on earth. This potential wasn't realized by the exiles; and so these things were reinterpreted and are reapplied to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. And therefore the imagery of this verse is used by Him about His Kingdom.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He waters the mountains from His rooms, the earth is filled with the fruit of Your works-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion may be to the temple on earth reflecting that in heaven. The living water is envisaged as flowing out of the rebuilt temple (<a href='B:450 14:8'>Zec 14:8</a>; <a href='B:360 3:18'>Joe 3:18</a>; <a href='B:330 47:5'>Eze 47:5</a>). Sadly the possibility of this was precluded by the exiles refusing to build and operate the temple in accordance with the specifications of Ezekiel 40-48.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that He may bring forth food out of the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God "makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (<a href='B:470 5:45'>Mat 5:45</a>). God consciously makes the sun rise each day- it isn't part of a kind of perpetual motion machine. Hence the force of His promises in the prophets that in the same way as He consciously maintains the solar system, so He will maintain His Israel. Psalms 104 is full of such examples: "He waters the hills::. causes the grass to grow::. makes darkness (consciously, each night)::. the young lions::. seek their meat from God::. send forth Your Spirit (Angel), they are created" (not just by the reproductive system). There are important implications following from these ideas with regard to our faith in prayer. It seems to me that our belief that the world is going on inevitably by clockwork is one of the things which militates against a sense of God's active presence through His Spirit. See on <a href='B:470 6:26'>Mat 6:26</a>.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man’s heart-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This doesn’t mean we are to drink alcohol until we feel “merry”. This phrase and those surrounding it are not talking about the effect of crops on the bodies of people, but rather the effect of a good harvest on the emotions of those gathering them. Wine, oil and bread are all associated with the sanctuary services (s:w. <a href='B:440 2:12'>Hag 2:12</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh’s trees are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon, which He has planted-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The living water of the Messianically restored Zion mentioned on :13 was intended to water trees of life (<a href='B:330 47:12'>Eze 47:12</a>; <a href='B:730 22:2'>Rev 22:2</a>). This didn't happen at the restoration as intended, as the Jews didn't build the temple system of Ezekiel 40-48. But in essence it will come true in Messiah's Kingdom (<a href='B:730 22:2'>Rev 22:2</a>), and does come true in it even now. The promise that the restored exiles could have become the trees of Yahweh's planting (<a href='B:290 60:21'>Isa 60:21</a>; <a href='B:290 61:3'>Isa 61:3</a>) can become true spiritually for all who now accept the message of the Kingdom.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the fir trees-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :12, <a href='B:470 13:32'>Mat 13:32</a> uses this imagery in describing the Kingdom of God. The picture here is of how God's waters would create a restored Kingdom of God on earth. This potential wasn't realized by the exiles; and so these things were reinterpreted and are reapplied to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. And therefore the imagery of this verse is used by Him about His Kingdom. The stork was an unclean animal, but the unclean were to be welcomed into the restored Kingdom, for all such divisions between clean and unclean were to be removed.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The high mountains are for the wild goats, the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"High mountains" may be an intensive plural for the ultimately high mountain, of Zion. The term is used of Zion in <a href='B:290 40:9'>Isa 40:9</a>; <a href='B:290 57:7'>Isa 57:7</a>; <a href='B:330 17:22'>Eze 17:22</a>; and of the restored Zion in <a href='B:330 40:2'>Eze 40:2</a>. This mount Zion was to become a refuge for unclean animals; and we can note the emphasis in this chapter upon the beauty and acceptance of the unclean animals:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He appointed the moon for seasons, the sun knows when to set-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The moon being for seasons recalls the language of the Genesis creation. And the seasons were specifically the feasts. These were intended to feature in the reestablished Kingdom.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the animals of the forest prowl-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Darkness was always feared in contemporary societies, and the animals which prowled at night were seen as in league with demons. But this common understanding is being deconstructed. God is the maker of darkness, the animals of the night are beckoned forth by Him; for the Old Testament deconstructs any idea of a cosmic 'Satan' being and associated demons.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Even the instinct of the lion to hunt is given by God; they seek their food from Him. This is significant in the context of the exiles because the likes of Assyria and Babylon are likened to lions and wild, mysterious beasts (:20). But they too were ultimately under God's control, and had sought their prey from God's people under His direct instigation. There was and is no radical evil in the conception of God's true people. See on 27.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The sun rises, and they steal away and lay down in their dens-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :21, the mysterious wild animals of the night, including the lions, were all under God's control, and would go their way from God's people when He causes the sunrise. This clearly looks ahead to the coming of Messiah as the dawn (<a href='B:460 4:2'>Mal 4:2</a>), heralding the end of all Judah's abusers.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Man goes forth to his work, to his labour until the evening-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :24. The allusion may be to the curse of <a href='B:10 3:19'>Gen 3:19</a>, that man was to work until he can do so no more, and then returns to dust (:29). This contrasts with the eternity of God (:24) and His people.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh, how many are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all. The earth is full of Your riches-</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "The earth is full of Thy creation". The contrast is with the weary labour of man upon earth (:23), which he eagerly brings to an end every evening; and the ceaseless, creative labour of Yahweh.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The sea was seen by contemporary peoples as mysterious and out of human control, inhabited by monsters which equate to the cosmic 'Satan' being wrongly believed in by many today. But all within the seas are God's servants, waiting upon Him (:27) and looking to Him for food. The seas are used in the prophets to represent the Gentile nations who had abused Israel. These too were not forms of radical, uncontrolled evil; they were all totally under God's control.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There the ships go, and leviathan, whom You formed to play there-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Ships" here may refer to whales or other great sea beasts. See on :25. Leviathan appears to be the Canaanite version of the orthodox ‘Satan’ figure, perhaps a reference to the ‘Lotan’ of the Ugaritic myths. In great detail in Job 41, this creature and belief is deconstructed. It is shown to be a created being (:30) – created by the one almighty God of the Old Testament, to be completely under His control to the point that He can even tease them, playing with them as in Job 41, so enormously greater is His power than theirs. These Canaanite ‘Satan’ figures are thereby shown to have no significant existence; and they certainly don’t exist as opposed to God. They are totally under His control. And yet these monster figures clearly have characteristics shared by known animals, such as the hippopotamus, crocodile etc. Those similarities are intended. It’s been well observed: “To say that Leviathan has characteristics of the crocodile and the whale is not to say that it is such a creature, but rather to suggest that evil is rooted in the natural world” (Robert S. Fyall, Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of Creation and Evil in the Book of Job (Leicester: I:V:P. / Apollos, 2002) p. 27) – and the point is so laboured in Job that the natural world is of God’s complete creation. ‘Evil’ in a form independent of Him, in radical opposition to Him, simply isn’t there.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It’s significant that dragons in the form of serpents were common in Babylonian theology. Figures on vases show serpent griffins, there was one on Marduk’s temple in Nippur, and also on the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. These would have been familiar to Judah in Babylonian captivity. They may well have seen a similarity between the Babylonian monsters and the Leviathan beast. That God is greater than Leviathan and can do what He wills with him would therefore have had a special meaning to the faithful Jew in exile. In a restoration context, Isaiah comforted Judah that God would destroy “Leviathan the gliding serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea” (<a href='B:290 27:1'>Isa 27:1</a>). The real ‘monster’ faced by Judah in exile wasn’t a supernatural being; it was a concrete kingdom of men on earth, namely Babylon. God taught Job, and through him showcased to the watching world, that all such imaginations of Leviathan, monsters in the raging sea, crooked serpents etc. were vain – in any case, God had created them and used them to do His will with His people, symbolized as they were by Job. His sitting in dust and ashes is very much the picture of Judah sitting by the rivers of Babylon, bemoaning their losses:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :25,26, the creatures of the sea are actually God's servants, for that is the meaning of the idiom of 'waiting for'. And He feeds them; they do not randomly choose their prey purely in their own strength and of their own volition. See on :21.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You give to them; they gather. You open Your hand; they are satisfied with good-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :27, the apparently mysterious and radically evil beasts of the sea are all under God's controlled. Whatever they eat, is given to them by God's open hand. The beasts which had consumed Judah were actually given their food by God; for the prophets continually stress that these invasions came from God's direction:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You hide Your face: they are troubled; You take away their breath: they die, and return to the dust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The hiding of God's face always speaks of His moral displeasure. This statement is specifically in the context of the death of the mighty sea beasts, although as we have seen, they represent the nations dominating Israel. Their time for judgment would come, even if it were simply in the form of their death. We could not wish for any clearer statement that death of any living creature is an undoing of creation, whereby the breath or spirit is given by God, and then when it is withdrawn, they return to dust. This language is elsewhere used specifically of human beings. For in the matter of death, man truly has no preeminence above a beast (<a href='B:250 3:19'>Ecc 3:19</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You send forth Your Spirit: they are created, You renew the face of the ground-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :26, the great sea beasts are shown to be&nbsp; created beings- created by the one almighty God of the Old Testament, to be completely under His control to the point that He can even tease them, playing with them as in Job 41, so enormously greater is His power than theirs. And likewise the nations they represented were created by God. The dust into which they returned was the "ground" from which God could use His Spirit to form a new creation, when all these beasts have passed away for good.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let the glory of Yahweh endure forever, let Yahweh rejoice in His works-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This forms an inclusio to the opening allusions to the cherubim and the shekinah glory in :2-4. The psalmist wishes for the day to come when again the glory would return to Zion visibly, and "endure forever", never to be taken away again. And this would involve Yahweh eternally rejoicing in the works of the new creation intimated in :30.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This continues the inclusio to the opening allusions to the cherubim and the shekinah glory in :2-4, this time further alluding to the theophany on Sinai when Israel were first declared Yahweh's Kingdom. The psalmist was looking for the dramatic reestablishment of the Kingdom, accompanied by a similar theophany.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will sing to Yahweh as long as I live, I will sing praise to my God while I have any being-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We note again David's belief in the mortality of man, with no conscious existence after death [until the resurrection of the body]. For his time of "being" was "as long as I live".</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let your meditation be sweet to Him. I will rejoice in Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>His rejoicing in what was going to do was to be a reflection of God's rejoicing in His new creation (:31).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on His name! Make His doings known among the peoples-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is an appeal to the Gentile "peoples" to hear about God's work and praise Him; and to praise a deity in those days meant to accept that deity. Not because they were forced to by military conquest, but because they had considered God's work which had now been told to them. <a href='B:130 16:8-22'>1Ch 16:8-22</a> is the Psalm written by David when the ark was brought to Zion, but it reappears within <a href='B:230 105:1-15'>Psa 105:1-15</a>, which is clearly an appeal for the exiles to repent so that God's salvation history might continue with them. So we see how David's original Psalms were reworked and reapplied in later contexts, under Divine inspiration. By the time of the exiles in Babylon, it seems the ark had been lost. But such external religious symbolism was unimportant; the essence was that the people of God were to come to Zion, just as the ark had done.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David knew his sinfulness, he knew his reliance upon the grace of God, more and more as he got older. One would have thought that after the Bathsheba incident, David would have kept his mouth shut so far as telling other people how to live was concerned. But instead, we find an increasing emphasis in the Psalms (chronologically) upon David's desire to teach others of God's ways- particularly the surrounding Gentile peoples, before whom David had been disgraced over Bathsheba, not to mention from his two faced allegiance to Achish (<a href='B:90 27:8-12'>1Sa 27:8-12</a>). There is real stress upon this evangelistic fervour of David (<a href='B:230 4:3'>Psa 4:3</a>; <a href='B:230 18:49'>Psa 18:49</a>; <a href='B:230 22:25'>Psa 22:25</a>; <a href='B:230 22:31'>Psa 22:31</a>; <a href='B:230 35:18'>Psa 35:18</a>; <a href='B:230 40:9-10'>Psa 40:9-10</a>; <a href='B:230 57:9'>Psa 57:9</a>; <a href='B:230 62:8'>Psa 62:8</a>; <a href='B:230 66:5'>Psa 66:5</a>; <a href='B:230 66:16'>Psa 66:16</a>; <a href='B:230 95:1'>Psa 95:1</a>; <a href='B:230 95:8'>Psa 95:8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:5-8'>Psa 96:5-8</a>; <a href='B:230 96:10'>Psa 96:10</a>; <a href='B:230 100:1-4'>Psa 100:1-4</a>; <a href='B:230 105:1-2'>Psa 105:1-2</a>; <a href='B:230 119:27'>Psa 119:27</a>; <a href='B:230 145:5-6'>Psa 145:5-6</a>; <a href='B:230 145:12'>Psa 145:12</a>). Indeed, <a href='B:230 71:18'>Psa 71:18</a> records the "old and greyheaded" David pleading with God not to die until he had taught "thy strength unto this generation". As with Paul years later, the only reason he wanted to stay alive was in order to witness the Gospel of grace to others. David&nbsp;therefore coped with his deep inner traumas by looking out of himself to those around him, eagerly desiring to share with them the pureness of God's grace. He didn't do this as some kind of self-help psychiatry; it came naturally from a realization of his own sinfulness and God's mercy, and the wonderful willingness&nbsp;of God to extend this to men.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing to Him, sing praises to Him! Tell of all His marvellous works-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was very much involved in Israel his people. He saw himself as their representative. When he sung Psalms, he invited them to come and sing along with him (<a href='B:230 105:2'>Psa 105:2</a>; <a href='B:230 107:22'>Psa 107:22</a>; <a href='B:230 111:1'>Psa 111:1</a>). And yet this can also be read as an appeal to the Gentile peoples of :1 to hear of Yahweh's works, believe them, accept Him as their God, and then in turn tell others of "His marvellous works". See on :45.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Glory in His holy name, let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Bible continually stresses the critical importance of the heart, the mind. Our minds should glory in God's Name which is His characteristics, as articulated in His "works" (:2) in history. And this leads us to "seek" Him and His face, which I suggest on :4 refers to repentance.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Seek Yahweh and His strength, seek His face forever more-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>To seek Yahweh's face is an idiom for repentance (<a href='B:350 5:15'>Hos 5:15</a>), and is specifically used by Daniel in the context of the exiles (<a href='B:140 7:14'>2Ch 7:14</a>; <a href='B:340 9:3'>Dan 9:3</a>). This is therefore an appeal for the exiles to repent, so that God may continue to lavish His saving grace upon them, as He had upon their forefathers.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Remember His marvellous works that He has done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Hebrew idea of 'remembering' is not necessarily related to 'remembering' as opposed to 'forgetting'; rather does it have the flavour of celebrating, and thus being aware of in gratitude and praise.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>you seed of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was clearly the "chosen one::. My servant" (<a href='B:230 89:3'>Psa 89:3</a>), but these very terms are applied to Israel as a whole (<a href='B:230 105:6'>Psa 105:6</a>; <a href='B:230 105:43'>Psa 105:43</a>; <a href='B:230 106:5'>Psa 106:5</a>) and to the "servant" of later Isaiah, who refers to both Israel and their Messiah as their embodiment (<a href='B:290 42:1'>Isa 42:1</a>; <a href='B:290 45:4'>Isa 45:4</a>). David's path of sin, repentance and restoration was intended to be that of all God's people, as he himself recognizes in Psalms 32. But the exiles refused to repent and therefore their restoration was precluded. They were not therefore treated as His "chosen one".</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He is Yahweh, our God; His judgments are in all the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles were to believe the prophetic word, that all the nations in the eretz promised to Abraham were to experience God's judgments; the judgments of "our God", Yahweh, the God of Israel.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Jeremiah, Zechariah, Hosea and Ezekiel point out to Judah that they had broken the old covenant; their only basis of connection with God was therefore on the basis of the new covenant He was offering, which was based upon the promises to Abraham. That word of promise was unconditional, to all who wanted to believe it. It was therefore eternal, "to a thousand generations". It would therefore be abrogated, unlike the old covenant based on the law of Moses.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>the covenant which He made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "oath to Isaac" must refer to the repetition of the promises to Abraham to Isaac in <a href='B:10 26:3'>Gen 26:3</a>, where the same word for "oath" is used. But the context of that repetition of the covenant oath to Isaac was in commanding him not to seek material prosperity in Egypt, but rather to remain in the famished land of Israel, then experiencing famine. This was relevant to the exiles, many of whom preferred to remain in Babylon, seeing that Malachi, Ezra and others record serious famine in the land of Judah at that time:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "statute" doesn't refer to the law of Moses, but to the covenant with Abraham of :9. The covenant with Abraham was an unconditional offer of eternal inheritance of the land; all that was and is required is that this great salvation be believed. But it became and becomes a "statute" or "law" in the same way as grace reigns or is a ruler over us (<a href='B:520 5:21'>Rom 5:21</a>). If we believe in God's unconditional covenant of salvation, then this becomes a law of our lives, the guiding principle in all our thinking, worldviews and perceptions. It is in this sense that "the grace of God::. teaches us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and Godly lives" (<a href='B:630 2:11-12'>Tit 2:11-12</a>). Grace is grace, but the wonder of it, when believed, is such that it naturally elicits changed behaviour, and in this sense is a "statute" or law.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>saying, To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As discussed on :10, the promise of eternal inheritance of Canaan was unconditional, by grace. It just had to be believed.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God rejoices to work with the small and feeble. The "few men" must refer to how Jacob's family only numbered about 70 people when they went into Egypt. The same phrase "few men in number" is exactly that used by Jacob in lamenting how very small his tribe was compared to the aggressive tribes amongst whom they lived in Canaan (<a href='B:10 34:30'>Gen 34:30</a>). And it is the phrase used of how when Israel were to be judged for their sins in exile, they would be left "few men in number" (<a href='B:50 4:27'>Deu 4:27</a>). The exiles are being encouraged to see the similarities between them and Jacob's family in Egypt, the original 'Israel' at its first beginnings.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This seems to refer, in the context, to the journeyings of the patriarchs amongst the peoples of Canaan, Philistia and Egypt. Although they suffered at the hands of those peoples, they were miraculously preserved; and so would God's people be despite their current exile in Babylon / Persia.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, He reproved kings for their sakes-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In this we see God's absolute grace. For both Abraham and Isaac were rightly reproved by the Abimelech kings for lying about their wives, and yet God reproved those kings. He was openly showing His passionate love and preference for His people; they were rightly reproved by the kings (<a href='B:10 20:16'>Gen 20:16</a>), but those kings were reproved by God for their sins of ignorance. And it was this same grace which was available to the exiles. "Wrong" was indeed done to the exiles (s:w. <a href='B:300 50:33'>Jer 50:33</a>; <a href='B:350 5:11'>Hos 5:11</a>), as it was done to the historical Jacob; but the point is being made that it was not ultimately allowed because there was the final restoration of Jacob's fortunes, as there would be ultimately for God's people- but in God's own way and time:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This refers to how Abraham and Isaac were not harmed despite lying to Abimelech (see on :14). It definitely doesn't mean that God's visible public servants are beyond criticism; for Abraham and Isaac most definitely are reproved for their actions in the Biblical record. The point is that they, weak as they were and deserving of "harm", were preserved from ultimate harm by God's grace. And they are cited as an example to the exiles, who were all "anointed ones" (<a href='B:310 4:21'>Lam 4:21</a>), they had a special purpose before God; just as all in Christ, the anointed one, are likewise "anointed ones"&nbsp; (<a href='B:540 1:21'>2Co 1:21</a>). So this doesn't give pastors or church leaders special privilege of being beyond criticism, as this verse is misused to teach.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He called for a famine on the land, He destroyed the piles of food-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This verse must be understood in its context within this chronological account of God's grace towards His people at the time of the patriarchs. The Joseph story begins in the next verse, and so we are to understand that God gave a prophetic word about the famine before Joseph was sold into Egypt (:17). This theme is continued in :19; God made a prophetic word about Joseph, but it took time to come to fulfilment. And during that time, he suffered. But although God foresaw the time of famine, He had made plans right from the start of it to also save His people from it- even it involved factoring in their sinfulness within those plans. This was exactly the situation with the exiles; God's word had sent them into captivity, but that word had also arranged a salvation from it, even though they were suffering whilst that was brought about.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He sent a man before them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> Joseph, who was sold for a slave-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :16. In the context of the Psalm, God is comforting Israel that all their sufferings had been experienced by Joseph. The exiles are often spoken of as being in prison in a Gentile world (<a href='B:230 79:11'>Psa 79:11</a>; <a href='B:230 102:20'>Psa 102:20</a>; <a href='B:290 42:7'>Isa 42:7</a>; <a href='B:290 42:22'>Isa 42:22</a>; <a href='B:290 49:9'>Isa 49:9</a>); just as Joseph was. Prison and death are often associated because a spell in prison was effectively a death sentence, so bad were the conditions. Israel being in prison is therefore a symbol of a living death. The Lord Jesus as the suffering servant experienced all the sufferings of the exiled people of God, as their representative. On the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ was the great, supreme prisoner (<a href='B:230 69:33'>Psa 69:33</a> - this is an intensive plural, referring to a singular great prisoner). Like Joseph, He went through all the emotions of the prisoner; the shame, depression, introspection. As Israel were comforted in their living death by the fact that there was an individual in the past who had gone through all they were going through as a group; so the new Israel ought to take comfort together in contemplating the experiences of the Lord Jesus. He bore our communal sorrows, griefs and sins. In this sense He was "sent before" both the exiles and ourselves.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They bruised his feet with shackles; his soul was locked in iron-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This highlights the mental aspects of Joseph's suffering. The verse is badly translated in the AV: "Whose feet (the same word is translated ability, endurance, journey) they hurt (Heb. 'to browbeat or depress') with fetters: (i:e:) his soul (AVmg:) came into iron". His very soul was in iron, trapped, oppressively boxed in as he lay in the darkness. As the Lord Jesus Christ hung in the darkness He too was depressed by the weight of His mental burden, a burden so great it must have pushed His brain to maximum neurological capacity. The spirit of the crucified Christ is also in <a href='B:230 142:7'>Psa 142:7</a>: "Bring my soul out of prison::. the righteous shall compass me about" (cp. <a href='B:230 22:22'>Psa 22:22</a>). The Lord Jesus poured out His soul unto death; "He was taken away by distress" (<a href='B:290 53:12'>Isa 53:12</a>; <a href='B:290 53:8'>Isa 53:8</a> AVmg:) suggests that it was the mental crisis in the Lord's heart on the cross which resulted in His death. This is why Pilate marvelled that He died so quickly. It is evident from this that the physical process of crucifixion did not kill the Lord, but rather the heart burst (both figurative and literal) which it brought upon Him. Do we not sense that striving in our minds as we fellowship His sufferings? Here is the challenge of the Joseph record and seeing Joseph as a type of Christ; to just begin to capture the mental anguish of the Son of God as He hung there.</p>&nbsp;


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>until the time that His word came true, and Yahweh’s word proved Him true-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Just as the prophetic word for Joseph came true when it appeared at times to have no chance of fulfilment, so the word of restoration would come true for the exiles. See on :16. God has arranged our lives according to a pattern; we have specific times in our lives for various situations. Looking back at the Biblical record of Joseph and Moses, whose life was divided clearly into three periods of 40 years, we see this clearly; but it’s of course harder to discern in our own lives as we are still living through it. But God is in control and has a plan for us, desiring only our eternal good in our latter end. Joseph was in this situation until the determined time came for God to suddenly deliver him thanks to the unexpected word from a king; and so Judah, depressed in Babylon, were being comforted that when the predicted 70 years captivity were ended, they too would be likewise delivered- which came true in the decree of king Cyrus for them to return to their land with his every blessing.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The king sent and freed him; even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The deliverance of Joseph by the edict of a powerful king looked forward to the deliverance of the captives by the decree of Cyrus. Pharaoh's behaviour is recorded in terms appropriate to Cyrus, e:g. describing him as "ruler of peoples". "Freed" is AV "loosed" (s:w. <a href='B:230 146:7'>Psa 146:7</a>). The exiles were prisoners who could have been loosed from Babylon- had they wished. The book of Esther makes clear that the Jews were far from impoverished prisoners. The imagery of being in prison and slavery is therefore in spiritual terms; and most of the exiles refused that great deliverance because they didn't perceive their condition. And that's exactly why folks today turn down the great offer of freedom made to them in Christ.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :22, this could imply that such a situation was potentially possible at the time of the restoration under Cyrus. The allusion to Joseph continues; he was in a prison "house" under a "lord" (<a href='B:10 39:2'>Gen 39:2</a>; <a href='B:10 40:7'>Gen 40:7</a>), but there was a sudden, radical inversion of everything. He was exalted from that position to be lord of Pharaoh's "house" (<a href='B:10 45:8'>Gen 45:8</a>). This sudden inversion could potentially have happened with the decree of Cyrus.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Discipline" is AV "bind" and maybe continues the theme of :21, of sudden inversion. Instead of being bound by princes, Joseph bound princes. This isn't recorded of Pharaoh and Joseph; but I have suggested in commentary on the Joseph story that there are hints that the worship of Yahweh and the acceptance of His principles was established by Joseph at a high level in Egypt. Perhaps the idea is that potentially, Cyrus could have allowed a Joseph figure at the time of the restoration to teach the entire Persian leadership of Yahweh's wisdom. And thus the Kingdom of God would have spread throughout the entire eretz promised to Abraham. But these things were precluded by Judah's impenitence, no such Joseph figure arising, and Cyrus also failing to live up to his potential. All these things come to their reapplied fulfilment in the Lord Jesus and the things of His Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Israel also came into Egypt, Jacob lived in the land of Ham-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The force of "also" is that as the exiles had gone into Babylon, so also had Israel gone into Egypt, and been blessed there and delivered from it.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The hope was that a small minority nation like Judah could have become stronger than "Babylon" and arisen from their exile in supernatural strength given by God. But the majority of them preferred to remain there, and initially, as Ezekiel laments, they worshipped the gods of Babylon. This is also hinted at in the book of Esther.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He turned their heart to hate His people, to conspire against His servants-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is further evidence that God can work directly upon the hearts of people, including those like the Egyptians who are not His people. The heart of Saul was likewise turned (s:w. <a href='B:90 10:9'>1Sa 10:9</a>). This is effected today by the work of the Holy Spirit directly upon human spirits / hearts.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The phrase "chosen::. servant" is used of David (<a href='B:230 78:70'>Psa 78:70</a>). But it is particularly used of the people of God whilst exiled (<a href='B:290 41:8-9'>Isa 41:8-9</a>; <a href='B:290 43:10'>Isa 43:10</a>; <a href='B:290 44:1'>Isa 44:1</a> etc:), and of Zerubbabel, the potential Messiah at the time of the restoration (<a href='B:440 2:23'>Hag 2:23</a>). Zerubbabel could have been David redivivus, a Messiah figure who was the Davidic ruler, representative of God's people, who were also the chosen servant. Just as Moses and Aaron had delivered the people from Egypt, so this individual could have delivered the exiles from Babylon and led them to a restored Kingdom of God in the land. But he failed, as did the people; and so these things were reapplied to the ultimate "chosen servant", the Lord Jesus (<a href='B:470 12:18'>Mat 12:18</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Mizraim or Egypt was the descendant of Ham (<a href='B:10 10:6'>Gen 10:6</a>; <a href='B:230 105:23'>Psa 105:23</a>; <a href='B:230 105:27'>Psa 105:27</a>; <a href='B:230 106:22'>Psa 106:22</a>). There may be an allusion to Khem, one of the main Egyptian gods. For the purpose of all the plagues was to demonstrate that Yahweh was the only God, and the Egyptian gods had no real existence. The "signs" performed by Moses and Aaron (:26) could have been matched by the "signs" performed by the two "men of sign" at the restoration (<a href='B:450 3:8'>Zec 3:8</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He sent darkness, and made it dark. They didn’t rebel against His words-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is possible to see in the ten plagues brought about by God's word to Moses an echo of the ten times it is recorded that "God said" in Genesis 1. <a href='B:230 105:28-36'>Psa 105:28-36</a> describes the plagues on Egypt as a reversal of creation - starting with darkness (cp. "let there be light") and ending with the slaying of the firstborn to match the creation of man last of all. The words which were not rebelled against would then refer to the words of creation. But the point may simply be that Moses and Aaron (:26) weren't rebellious but performed the miracles and thereby delivered the people from Egypt; whereas as noted on :26, Zerubbabel and other potential Messiahs failed in thIsa.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The miracles upon the waters were in a sense repeated upon Babylon when the waters were dried up from around the city so that the Medes could take the city. This admittedly was not by miraculous means; but perhaps the idea is that potentially, there could have been similar miraculous acts to cause Babylon to fall and enable the exodus of the exiles.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Potentially, there could have been similar miraculous acts to cause Babylon to fall and enable the exodus of the exiles. The descriptions of the fall of Babylon never came about as was potentially possible. Babylon decayed rather than being struck with the supernatural plagues envisioned in the "fall of Babylon" prophecies; they will come true in the last days, however, for they are alluded to in Revelation 18.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He spoke, and swarms of beetles came, and lice in all their borders-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :28, the plagues came about by the word of Yahweh, alluding to His creative words which brought about creation in the first place. The same prophetic word had been spoken about the restoration and recreation of God's Kingdom in the land.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hail and lightning (AV "flaming fire") are the words used for the destruction of Assyria / Babylon (<a href='B:290 30:30'>Isa 30:30</a>). They are also associated with theophany (<a href='B:230 18:12-13'>Psa 18:12-13</a>). Hail and lightning could have been used to destroy Babylon and thereby fulfil God's prophetic word of restoration for the exiles (<a href='B:230 148:8'>Psa 148:8</a>). But these great potentials were not realized because the Jews didn't repent and didn't for the most part actually want the restoration of the Kingdom. They preferred the good life in Persia.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Not recorded in the Exodus record. The language of vines and figs is more relevant to Babylon (<a href='B:290 36:17'>Isa 36:17</a>) rather than Egypt; but the plagues upon Egypt are being described as being potentially possible upon Babylon, if Judah repented and really wanted restoration. We therefore read of Babylon's latter day plagues (<a href='B:300 50:13'>Jer 50:13</a>; <a href='B:730 18:4'>Rev 18:4</a>; <a href='B:730 18:8'>Rev 18:8</a>). These things have been reapplied to Babylon of the last days seeing they didn't happen as potentially possible at the restoration.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers without number-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :28,31, the plagues came about by the word of Yahweh, alluding to His creative words which brought about creation in the first place. The same prophetic word had been spoken about the restoration and recreation of God's Kingdom in the land. The language of creation is used about the destruction of Babylon; because the idea was that the fall of Babylon would presage the new creation of God's people and land. But this was conditional upon their repentance. Because they didn't repent and preferred Babylon, Babylon didn't therefore fall at the time in the dramatic way which the prophecies show was potentially possible.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>ate up every plant in their land and devoured the fruit of their ground-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The prophets envisage the fall of Babylon meaning that her land would be damaged by supernatural visitation. But Babylon fell slowly, the prophetic picture didn't come about at the time of the restoration, but is reinterpreted to the latter day Babylon; see on :34.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The death of the firstborn was because either the individuals or their parents refused to be obedient to God's offer of salvation. It was therefore a result of human sin; and part of "sin" is that it hurts others. "The chief of all their strength" (AV) is another way of saying 'the firstborn' (s:w. <a href='B:10 49:3'>Gen 49:3</a>). The idea is that human strength was to be taken away, because Egypt was not trusting in God's strength. But God did the same to His own "strength", His people (<a href='B:230 78:61'>Psa 78:61</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He brought them forth with silver and gold, there was not one feeble person among His tribes-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Amazingly, there was nobody sick amongst the three million or so who left Egypt that night. At our exodus from this world through our Red Sea baptism into Christ, we are made spiritually strong- and must abide in that strength. "There was not one feeble person among His tribes" (<a href='B:230 105:37'>Psa 105:37</a>), but prior to this the Israelites had indeed been "feeble" before their Egyptian captors (s:w. <a href='B:230 107:12'>Psa 107:12</a>). This means that the feeble were made strong; and this was exactly the promise to the exiles, that they who were "feeble" in Babylonian exile would be strengthened so that they could&nbsp; leave Babylon and be restored to the land (s:w. <a href='B:290 35:3'>Isa 35:3</a>). The word for "feeble" is often translated "cast down" and is used of how Judah had been at the time of their exile into Babylon (<a href='B:300 6:21'>Jer 6:21</a>; <a href='B:300 8:12'>Jer 8:12</a>; <a href='B:300 18:15'>Jer 18:15</a>; <a href='B:310 1:14'>Lam 1:14</a>; <a href='B:350 5:5'>Hos 5:5</a> and often). But they would be led out of Babylon in a straight way and without stumbling / being feeble (s:w. <a href='B:300 31:9'>Jer 31:9</a>); the "feeble" would be strengthened (<a href='B:450 12:8'>Zec 12:8</a> s:w:). Yet when they returned to the land, they were "feeble" (s:w. <a href='B:160 4:10'>Neh 4:10</a> "decayed"; <a href='B:460 2:8'>Mal 2:8</a> "stumbled"). The potential strengthening wasn't used by them:&nbsp; </p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Glad" is a word nearly always used of rejoicing "before the Lord", of a spiritual nature; it has been used in :3 of God's people rejoicing in His Name. The word is used of rejoicing along with God's people in <a href='B:230 106:5'>Psa 106:5</a>. The fear which fell upon Egypt may simply be a reference to that of <a href='B:20 15:16'>Exo 15:16</a>. But fear falling upon people is the phrase used of what happened in Persia when the Jews were exalted (<a href='B:190 8:17'>Est 8:17</a>; <a href='B:190 9:2-3'>Est 9:2-3</a>), with the result that many became Jews. So the idea may be that many in Egypt accepted the God of Israel after the Hebrews departed; and this was the envisaged outcome in Babylon too. But the potential was marred by the fact that Judah didn't give glory to God, remained for the most part in Persia / Babylon, and therefore the intended repentance of Babylon didn't happen.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The sensitivity of God is revealed here. The cloud kept the heat of the sun off them in the day time, and the fire kept them warm at night when the temperatures plunged in the desert. This same care was potentially available to the exiles (<a href='B:230 121:6'>Psa 121:6</a>); but most didn't even want to make the journey, and remained in Babylon. These promises are therefore reapplied to the new Israel (<a href='B:730 7:16'>Rev 7:16</a>), As Yahweh provided a pillar of fire to give light in the night to His people in the wilderness, so Israel were to arrange for a fire to be burning throughout the night in the tabernacle. They were to give light in response to God’s giving light to them:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They asked, and He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We note here how God works. They weren't given the quails until they asked for meat. There is no mention here of how the fattest of them were struck down at this time (<a href='B:230 78:31'>Psa 78:31</a>). The point is made that God made concessions to their weakness and went along with their requests because by all means He wanted His rescue operation to succeed; and so it could have been with the restoration of the exiles from Babylon. But most didn't even want to start the wonderful journey.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He opened the rock-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As the rock was "opened", so Babylon, the apparently invincible prison house, would be opened for the exiles (s:w. <a href='B:290 14:17'>Isa 14:17</a>; <a href='B:290 45:1'>Isa 45:1</a>); the graves would be opened and the dry bones of the exiles would come forth to restore the Kingdom (s:w. <a href='B:330 37:13'>Eze 37:13</a>):&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And waters gushed out; they ran as a river in the dry places-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The language of <a href='B:290 41:18'>Isa 41:18</a>; <a href='B:290 45:8'>Isa 45:8</a> about what God would do for the returning exiles. In the restored Zion, a fountain would be "opened" (s:w. <a href='B:450 13:1'>Zec 13:1</a>). But all this was precluded&nbsp; by the exiles refusing to rebuild Zion according to the specifications in Ezekiel 40-48.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For He remembered His holy word, and Abraham His servant-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The deliverance from Egypt was in fulfilment of the prophetic word to Abraham. And the prophetic word was likewise given to the exiles, that they too would be delivered and restored. The phrase "His holy word" is specifically used of the prophetic word to the exiles in <a href='B:300 23:9'>Jer 23:9</a>:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen with singing-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :6. The allusion is to the songs of Moses and Miriam after the Red Sea deliverance. The song of Moses could have been sung again at the deliverance of the exiles. But it wasn't; and so the prophecy and the promise is recalculated and reapplied to the deliverance of the last days (<a href='B:730 15:3'>Rev 15:3</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labour of the peoples in possession-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The scale of the potential for the exiles was huge. The tiny Jewish minority, one of many minorities within the Babylonian / Persian empires, could have not only had their own capital city restored, but also have received all the lands within the eretz promised to Abraham. Likewise the potentials offered in the Gospel of the Kingdom are enormous; but most prefer to be satisfied with the things of this life, as the exiles were with life in Babylon.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise Yahweh! Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good, for His grace endures forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The previous Psalms 105 has asked God to restore the exiles, to come through for them, because this is what He has done for His people in the past. But there has been no acceptance of grace, of their sinfulness, or of the consequence for sin. This Psalm presents a different picture of Israel's history; it is of their sinfulness, and God's radical grace. And the Psalm asks God to continue that grace. There is still not the total confession of sin which we see in Daniel's prayer (Daniel 9) nor in Ezra's (Ezra 9). But there is an acceptance of their sinfulness and God's grace, and the final appeal for an "Amen" is asking the audience to accept this and to ask for it to continue. "His grace endures forever" is a way of effectively asking for that grace towards sinners to continue to the exiles.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Who can utter the mighty acts of Yahweh, or fully declare all His praise?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmist utters forth the mighty acts of God in this Psalm with the preface enquiring as to who can adequately do thIsa. And then proceeds to do just that. He did so with a clear recognition of his own inadequacy. The Psalms of praise are full of this theme. The mighty acts which will be listed are those of radical forgiveness.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is the one who does what is right-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David so often parallels righteousness and justice / truth (<a href='B:230 9:8'>Psa 9:8</a>; <a href='B:230 33:5'>Psa 33:5</a>; <a href='B:230 37:6'>Psa 37:6</a>; <a href='B:230 72:2'>Psa 72:2</a>; <a href='B:230 94:15'>Psa 94:15</a>; <a href='B:230 99:7'>Psa 99:7</a>; <a href='B:230 103:6'>Psa 103:6</a>; <a href='B:230 106:3'>Psa 106:3</a>). Indeed, this parallel is so common in God's word. What it means is that the righteousness of God is a just righteousness. It's not fake, 'I'll turn a blind eye'. It is true, real, valid, and has integrity underpinned in the very essential justice of God Himself. Justice and righteousness may appear abstract ideas, mere theology. But the result is that the person who believes God's righteousness is imputed to him or her::. will feel this, they will know it to be true, they can by grace, in faith, quietly hold their head up before God. And David after Bathsheba is our example. He believed and felt this imputed righteousness. It's not so much a case of 'forgiving ourselves' after God has forgiven us, but rather of being swamped by this very real and legitimate sense that truly, we have been counted righteous. And Paul in Romans holds up David after Bathsheba as the personal example to " every one who is Godly" in their time of spiritual need. See on <a href='B:230 41:12'>Psa 41:12</a>.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>At all times-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Consistency is most important in spiritual life rather than occasional flashes of devotion and obedience.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Remember me, Yahweh, with the grace that You show to Your people; visit me with Your salvation-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmist, originally David but rewritten by someone else at the time of the exile (perhaps Jeremiah, Ezra or Daniel), confesses that he too on a personal level needs the grace which he is going to celebrate. And he looks personally for salvation from a Divine 'visitation'. Perhaps he perceived that salvation from Babylon in the restored Kingdom could have been eternal; potentially. But the preconditions weren't met. But that may well have been his legitimate hope.</p>&nbsp;


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>that I may see the prosperity of Your chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your inheritance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was clearly the "chosen one::. My servant" (<a href='B:230 89:3'>Psa 89:3</a>), but these very terms are applied to Israel as a whole (<a href='B:230 105:6'>Psa 105:6</a>; <a href='B:230 105:43'>Psa 105:43</a>; <a href='B:230 106:5'>Psa 106:5</a>) and to the "servant" of later Isaiah, who refers to both Israel and their Messiah as their embodiment (<a href='B:290 42:1'>Isa 42:1</a>; <a href='B:290 45:4'>Isa 45:4</a>). David's path of sin, repentance and restoration was intended to be that of all God's people, as he himself recognizes in Psalms 32. But the exiles refused to repent and therefore their restoration was precluded. They were not therefore treated as His "chosen one". The Psalmist’s desire for salvation wasn’t merely because he or she wanted to live eternally. There was a desire to see all God’s people glorying in salvation. Salvation is made possible in that God’s people as a whole have been redeemed; there is such a thing as spiritual selfishness, desiring the Kingdom merely for what it means to us. But if we have the perspective of God’s glory, we will desire the coming of salvation because all of us will be glorified. Hence Paul could say that the joy he would have in the Kingdom would be related to his joy that his brethren were also there (<a href='B:590 2:19'>1Th 2:19</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Why do I want to be in the Kingdom? What makes this the dominant desire which we will surely receive? David asked to be given “thy salvation</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation” (AV). Paul likewise says that to see the Thessalonians in the Kingdom would be his glory and joy in that day. Both those men had a perspective far bigger than merely themselves. If our sole desire to ‘be there’ is so that I will live for ever, I will have a nice level of existence</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> this, it seems to me, is not only essentially selfish, but our basic dysfunction and tendency to devaluing of ourselves just will not allow us to have the receipt of personal eternity as our dominant desire. We’ll be interested in it, but it won’t consistently be the thing we desire above all else. But if we see the wider picture, then we will pray for the Kingdom to come so that the things of God’s Name may be glorified; because we want to see our dear brethren there in the Kingdom; because we will want to share our Lord’s joy and their joy. These things are more than the primitive desire for self-preservation which we all have, and which we can articulate in terms of wanting to personally be in the Kingdom. Thus if our motives are right for wanting to be in the Kingdom, then this will become our dominant desire; and we will be granted the desires of our heart. Really we will be. God’s word promises thIsa.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David saw his sufferings as being bound up with those of Israel; those who hated him hated Zion, those who blessed him blessed Zion, and God's salvation of Israel was being expressed through God's deliverance of him in the daily vicissitudes of life; as God had chosen Zion, so He had David His servant; David's joy was Zion's joy, and her exaltation would be David's&nbsp; (<a href='B:230 51:18'>Psa 51:18</a>; <a href='B:230 69:35'>Psa 69:35</a>; <a href='B:230 87:2'>Psa 87:2</a>; <a href='B:230 106:5'>Psa 106:5</a>; <a href='B:230 121:3-4'>Psa 121:3-4</a>; <a href='B:230 125:1'>Psa 125:1</a>; <a href='B:230 128:5'>Psa 128:5</a>; <a href='B:230 146:10'>Psa 146:10</a>; <a href='B:230 149:2'>Psa 149:2</a>). This is how we are to make sense of suffering- by understanding that it plays a role in the salvation of others, and is part of a wider nexus of Divine operation. We suffer so that we may be able to minister the comfort we receive to others (<a href='B:540 1:4'>2Co 1:4</a>). Job likewise came to realize that his sufferings were not so much for his personal maturing, but for the teaching and salvation of the friends.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We have sinned with our fathers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Continuing the thought of :5, the Psalmist felt that he personally was somehow involved in the sin of God’s people (“we&nbsp;have sinned”); Ezra and Daniel prayed and felt likewise at the time of the exile. We aren’t called to smug self righteousness, avoiding guilt by association; but rather the opposite. We are to feel a personal involvement in the failures and successes of God’s people as a whole.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Paul, his joy and crown would be to see his brethren accepted into God's Kingdom at judgment day. David had the same spirit when he wrote of how he longed to "see the prosperity of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance" (<a href='B:230 106:5'>Psa 106:5</a>). His personal vision of God's Kingdom involved seeing others there; there's no hint of spiritual selfishness in David. And he goes straight on to comment: "We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity::. our fathers understood not::." (<a href='B:230 106:6'>Psa 106:6</a>). David felt himself very much at one with the community of God's children, both in their failures and in their ultimate hope. Life with God simply can't be lived in isolation from the rest of His people. Our salvation in that sense has a collective aspect to it, and if we want 'out' with the community of believers in this life, then we're really voting ourselves out of their future glory.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We have committed iniquity-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The word used by David about his sin (<a href='B:230 38:6'>Psa 38:6</a>). David's repentance and restoration was to be their pattern.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We have done wickedly-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is s:w. <a href='B:230 18:21'>Psa 18:21</a>, where earlier David had&nbsp; boasted that "I have not wickedly departed from my God". "Wickedly departed" is the word usually translated "condemn" (e:g. <a href='B:230 37:33'>Psa 37:33</a>). Those who depart from God condemn themselves. This is a major Biblical theme; that the condemned are more self-condemned rather than condemned by God. "We make the answer now". But now later David was to realize that he too had wickedly departed from God, and confession of that was vital for salvation.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Our fathers didn’t understand Your wonders in Egypt. They didn’t remember the multitude of Your graces, but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Even at the very moment of their salvation they were rebellious. God didn’t save them because they had reached a certain level of righteousness, let alone "understanding", but because of His grace; see on :12. The Red Sea crossing represents our baptism (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>); God has saved us by His grace, not because of our righteousness.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Because of the high degree of God manifestation in Moses, he was so severely punished for not sanctifying Yahweh in the eyes of Israel in his sin of smiting the rock. Israel provoking his spirit to sin at this time is spoken of in the context of the way in which they provoked God’s spirit (<a href='B:230 106:7'>Psa 106:7</a>; <a href='B:230 106:29'>Psa 106:29</a>; <a href='B:230 106:33'>Psa 106:33</a>; <a href='B:230 106:43'>Psa 106:43</a>) - such was God’s manifestation in Moses even while he was sinning. And so God is manifest in sinful men like us too. Moses knew this, he knew his closeness to God through manifestation, and yet he yearned to see God physically, he struggled with his distance from God (<a href='B:20 33:18'>Exo 33:18</a>; <a href='B:20 33:20'>Exo 33:20</a>). The spirit of Christ in the Psalms is similar. And for us too.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power known-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Salvation for His Name's sake is the same as saying that He saved them by grace (:1). Grace is the quintessence of the Yahweh Name. The "mighty power" that was made known was not so much His physical, material ability to divide waters- but His grace and salvation of the unworthy (:7).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so He led them through the depths, as through a desert-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :1, this is being cited in the context of exemplifying God's saving grace to the unworthy. He saved those who didn't "understand", who doubted right at the shores of the Red Sea (:7). But all the same He led them through the Red Sea, which was made as dry as the desert they would now be led through further. And God likewise can save even without full faith and "understanding" at the time of our baptism (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>); if subsequently we believe in and cling to His saving program for us.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Saving and redeeming are the words brought together elsewhere only in the context of God's desire to be the "saviour and redeemer" of the exiles through His offer of restoration (<a href='B:290 49:26'>Isa 49:26</a>; <a href='B:290 60:16'>Isa 60:16</a>; <a href='B:290 63:9'>Isa 63:9</a>). The redemption of a misunderstanding and disbelieving people of God from Egypt could have been the pattern for the salvation and redemption of the exiles from Babylon. Deliverance from the hand of haters is an idea commonly used by David about his salvation from Saul (<a href='B:230 18:17'>Psa 18:17</a>; <a href='B:230 18:40'>Psa 18:40</a> and often). This early Psalm of David has been reworked, under Divine inspiration, to be relevant to the exiles.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The waters covered their adversaries, there was not one of them left-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The destruction of the Egyptians is cited here as an example of God's grace to Israel (see on <a href='B:230 106:1'>Psa 106:1</a>), and it is likewise used in <a href='B:230 136:15'>Psa 136:15</a>. One take on the situation is that God foreknew that if He had not killed those Egyptians, they would have killed the Israelites.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Then they believed His words, they sang His praise-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>All these examples from Israel's history are to exemplify God's absolute saving grace. They only "believed His words" after they had been saved through their Red Sea baptism (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>). And so it can be in the Christian experience. This also explains why the New Testament speaks of us being baptized, by God through the Spirit. Grammatically, baptism is something done to us (<a href='B:530 12:13'>1Co 12:13</a>). This has its basis in how Israel were baptized into Moses by God (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>). This is not to say that we should not first believe and then be baptized. But nearly every honest Christian would surely accept that our understanding and faith was weak at that point, and we were led by God's Spirit (or "providence", if you prefer) to the waters of baptism. We were saved as were Israel, but it is for us to believe it afterwards. See on :7,22.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They soon forgot His works, they didn’t wait for His word-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This seems to describe Israel's rebellions in language relevant to Saul, as if he represented them (<a href='B:90 13:8'>1Sa 13:8</a>). This Psalm likely started as one of David's, but was rewritten under Divine inspiration as relevant to the exiles. The impression is of haste: "They made haste, they forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel" (LXX). God's word is not revealed to us all in one go; His will is revealed in response to our patient response to what we currently understand of His will. And Israel ought to have perceived that God by grace had saved them. But they forgot that grace, and panicked when things didn't appear to work out, and turned away from Him rather than remembering His grace. And that was the lesson for the exiles.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>but gave in to their craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God had provided them with manna; but they craved flesh, meat; the same term is used in <a href='B:40 11:4'>Num 11:4</a>. This is the phrase only elsewhere used for Israel's coveting of meat in the wilderness (<a href='B:40 11:4'>Num 11:4</a>), but it is used once more, in <a href='B:240 21:26'>Pro 21:26</a>. This explains that the reason for their lust was because they were lazy (<a href='B:240 21:25'>Pro 21:25</a>). They ought to have instead thought of what they could give, rather than lusting for what they could additionally get. This generous attitude is the antidote to lust.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>If we fulfil our fleshly craving, we will become internally and spiritually hungry. Giving in to our cravings isn’t the way to happiness. But the way God gave them their request is cited here as an example of God's grace to Israel; for that is the theme of this Psalm. The idea is repeated with the same words in <a href='B:290 10:16'>Isa 10:16</a>: "Therefore shall the Lord::. send among His fat ones leanness". Again we see the intended parallels between Israel in dispersion and Israel in the wilderness.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, Yahweh’s saint-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Aaron was a "saint" in that he was a chosen one, separated unto God's purpose. But the rebels were unprepared to accept God's choice of saviours; and yet His saving purpose still continued with them, despite punishing the rebels (:17). And this was the simple lesson for the exiles, and for us all as we despair of our own weakness.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We note that "Korah" isn't mentioned here, although the rebellion was by Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Perhaps this was because the "sons of Korah" survived and were zealous in the temple service. <a href='B:40 16:32'>Num 16:32</a>; <a href='B:40 26:10'>Num 26:10</a> stress that the "earth opened" (s:w:) and swallowed up Korah and his followers. The pointed omission of "Korah" here is perhaps to point out God's grace in working through Korah's descendants. And again, this was the message the exiles needed to grasp; their fathers had sinned, they were in captivity, but they needed to follow the pattern of the sons of Korah:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A fire was kindled in their company, the flame burned up the wicked-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The intention of this Psalm, as explained on :1, is to chronicle God's grace to a very sinful Israel. The "fire kindled" is the term used of the burning bush which was not consumed (<a href='B:20 3:2'>Exo 3:2</a>), just as mount Sinai was kindled with fire but not consumed (especially stressed in Deuteronomy; <a href='B:50 4:11'>Deu 4:11</a>; <a href='B:50 5:23'>Deu 5:23</a>; Deuteronomy 9; Deuteronomy 15). The idea is that although all Israel had sinned, only some of them were consumed, but the people as a whole were not consumed. The exiles would walk through kindled fire and not be consumed (s:w. <a href='B:290 43:2'>Isa 43:2</a>). God's purposes with His people would stand, even though the "fire was kindled" in the Babylon invasion (<a href='B:300 4:4'>Jer 4:4</a>; <a href='B:310 2:3'>Lam 2:3</a> s:w:), but they would be saved out of condemnation and not be consumed as a nation:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped a molten image-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We have just read of the fire kindled in God's wrath against His people. But they kindled that fire themselves (<a href='B:290 9:18'>Isa 9:18</a>; <a href='B:350 7:6'>Hos 7:6</a>), and used it to produce a molten image. Israel were to make no images in worship, because the God they worshipped was real, existing in an actual material form in heaven. They were to make no image of Him because they were to believe He was for real, before their very eyes if they had perceptive eyes of faith. And they were to realize that their own bodies were in His image.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Thus they exchanged their glory for an image of a bull that eats grass-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Their glory" refers to God. It was unthinkable that a nation changed their gods; they only did so when conquered by other nations who forced them to do so. This was the awful sin of Israel, in exchanging Yahweh for idols (<a href='B:300 2:11'>Jer 2:11</a>). They of course didn't see it as "exchange", but rather worshipping Yahweh through worshipping other idols; or worshipping Him as well as idols. This is the kind of temptation we face all the time; but here it is condemned as "exchanging" Yahweh for idols.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is good reason to believe that Romans 1 is a description of Israel in the wilderness; notice the past tenses there. <a href='B:520 1:23'>Rom 1:23</a> charges them with changing "the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like::. to four-footed beasts, and creeping things", clearly alluding to <a href='B:230 106:20'>Psa 106:20</a> concerning how Israel in the wilderness "Changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass" by making the golden calf. The effective atheism of Romans 1 is matched by <a href='B:230 106:21'>Psa 106:21</a> "They forgat God their saviour". The long catalogue of Israel's wilderness sins in Psalms 106 is similar to that in Romans 1. "Full of envy" (<a href='B:520 1:29'>Rom 1:29</a>) corresponds to them envying Moses (<a href='B:230 106:16'>Psa 106:16</a>), "whisperers" (<a href='B:520 1:29'>Rom 1:29</a>) to "murmurers" (<a href='B:230 106:25'>Psa 106:25</a>), and "inventors of evil things" (<a href='B:520 1:30'>Rom 1:30</a>) to God being angered with "their inventions" of false gods (<a href='B:230 106:29'>Psa 106:29</a>). Because of this "God gave them up" to continue in their sexual perversion and bitterness with each other even to the extent of murder (<a href='B:520 1:27'>Rom 1:27</a>; <a href='B:520 1:29'>Rom 1:29</a>). A rabble of about 2 million people living in moral anarchy with little law and order, driven on in their lust by the knowledge that God had rejected them is surely a frightening thing to imagine. The emphasis on sexual sin in Romans 1 is paralleled by 1 Corinthians 10 stressing the frequent failure of Israel in the wilderness in this regard. Against such an evil and God forsaking background that young generation rebelled, to become one of the most faithful groups of Israelites in their history. As such they set a glorious example to the youth of today in rebelling against a world that mocks any form of true spirituality.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>“Likeness” in <a href='B:520 1:23'>Rom 1:23</a> is used in the LXX in the frequent warnings not to make an image or likeness of any god, let alone Yahweh (<a href='B:20 20:4'>Exo 20:4</a>; <a href='B:50 4:16-25'>Deu 4:16-25</a>; <a href='B:230 106:20'>Psa 106:20</a>; <a href='B:290 40:18-19'>Isa 40:18-19</a>). The reason for this prohibition becomes clearer in the New Testament; the ultimate likeness of God is in His Son, and we are to create the likeness of His Son not as a mere physical icon, but within the very structure of our human personality and character.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They forgot God their Saviour who had done great things in Egypt-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As discussed on <a href='B:230 71:19'>Psa 71:19</a>, the "great / wondrous things" performed by God were His forgiveness and salvation of a condemned sinner like David. This is described in <a href='B:230 71:19'>Psa 71:19</a> as God doing "great things", the phrase used of the great things worked in visible miracles in Egypt (<a href='B:230 106:21'>Psa 106:21</a>) and at creation (<a href='B:230 136:7'>Psa 136:7</a>). But the forgiveness of people like David is no less a great miracle. Such great things are done because of His mercy / grace (<a href='B:230 136:4'>Psa 136:4</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>wondrous works in the land of Ham-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Mizraim or Egypt was the descendant of Ham (<a href='B:10 10:6'>Gen 10:6</a>; <a href='B:230 105:23'>Psa 105:23</a>; <a href='B:230 105:27'>Psa 105:27</a>; <a href='B:230 106:22'>Psa 106:22</a>). There may be an allusion to Khem, one of the main Egyptian gods. For the purpose of all the plagues was to demonstrate that Yahweh was the only God, and the Egyptian gods had no real existence.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And awesome things by the Red Sea-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The awesome thing done "by" and not "in" the Red Sea was that there on the shores of the Sea, Israel's faith collapsed. They did not understand nor "believe His words" (:7,12). And yet God saved them by grace. That was the wonderful work and awesome thing done by God which should be praised and remembered by us.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, so that He wouldn’t destroy them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Here again is God's extreme grace. His intention to destroy Israel and make a new nation from Moses was changed; indeed His intended destruction of Aaron and Israel was turned away by Moses more than once (<a href='B:50 9:8'>Deu 9:8</a>; <a href='B:50 9:14'>Deu 9:14</a>; <a href='B:50 9:19-20'>Deu 9:19-20</a>; <a href='B:50 9:25'>Deu 9:25</a>). Such is His radical sensitivity, reflecting a love for His people which is beyond words to describe. The very "chosen" Moses whom the people had argued was not chosen (:16,17) was allowed to save those people who had rejected him. This clearly looks forward to the saving work of the Lord Jesus. Jeremiah likewise had stood before Yahweh "to turn away His wrath" (s:w. <a href='B:300 18:20'>Jer 18:20</a>); but the sin of the exiles was apparently even worse than that of Israel. For the wrath came upon the people and they were sent to Babylon. But in another sense, Jeremiah's intercession was heard; for they were not 'destroyed' completely. They could be restored. Daniel likewise prayed for the turning away of God's wrath (s:w. <a href='B:340 9:16'>Dan 9:16</a>); and the answer was in the seventy sevens prophecy. Ultimately, God would not destroy His people but restore them, although in His own way and in His own time. Which was not exactly as the exiles had hoped. The exiles had broken the covenant and were therefore to be destroyed (s:w. <a href='B:50 28:20'>Deu 28:20</a>; <a href='B:50 28:24'>Deu 28:24</a>). But God was again open to changing His stated purpose and saving them. It was all grace upon grace.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe His word-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The word they disbelieved was the word of grace to Moses, that He would not destroy them as He had earlier stated (see on :23). But God had promised that although Israel despised the offer of the land, a "pleasant land" in that it could have been God's Kingdom on earth, yet even in their exile in the Gentile lands they preferred to His land, He would not "despise" them (s:w. <a href='B:30 26:44'>Lev 26:44</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the end, God gives us our dominant desire. Israel in the wilderness didn’t really desire the land, so they didn’t receive it. It was no "pleasant" to them, the 'land of desire' (AVmg:). Israel both despised the land, and they despised their God (<a href='B:40 14:11'>Num 14:11</a>; <a href='B:40 14:23'>Num 14:23</a>; <a href='B:40 14:31'>Num 14:31</a> RV). Our attitude as to whether or not we want to be in the Kingdom is essentially our attitude to God. This has far reaching implications. <a href='B:230 107:30'>Psa 107:30</a> likewise speaks of how the faithful are brought to the haven of their desire (RVmg:). All those who truly love the Lord’s appearing- with all that implies in practical life and belief- will be accepted (<a href='B:620 4:8'>2Ti 4:8</a>). And yet Israel didn’t have the dominant desire to be in the Kingdom, as Joshua and Caleb had. Why didn’t they? It is vital that we understand the reasons for their failure – such an understanding will be a safeguard to help prevent us from making the same mistake (<a href='B:520 15:4'>Rom 15:4</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>but murmured in their tents, and didn’t listen to Yahweh’s voice-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the face of God's amazing grace to them in not destroying them (see on :23), Israel muttered and murmured about the immediate problems of their lives. This obscured the wonderful voice of Yahweh assuring them of His saving grace. And so it is to this day.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Therefore He swore to them that He would overthrow them in the wilderness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But He didn't, because Moses interceded. An almighty God who swears but doesn't carry it out::. is a God of amazing grace.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>that He would overthrow their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the gentile lands-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This suggests that Israel's scattering in Gentile lands had been threatened at the time of the murmuring of :25; for the Psalm is chronologically going through Israel's history. This isn't recorded in the records; because by grace God changed from that purpose at the time, because of Moses' intercession. But Israel are now reminded that in fact their scattering amongst the Gentiles, which was then currently ongoing, had been a judgment pronounced right back in the wilderness; and had not been carried out because of the amazing patience of God.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They joined themselves also to Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>To join oneself is the language of marriage. To eat sacrifice was a sign of fellowship with the god at whose table you were eating. And by doing these things they were effectively breaking their covenant relationship with Yahweh. But despite that, He still worked to save them and to preserve them nationally as His people. His grace is the more amazing, because He disregarded even their breaking of covenant with Him- because He was and is so passionate to save.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds. The plague broke in on them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It could be argued that this too reflects God's grace. The threatened judgment was complete destruction of the entire nation (:26), but in reality the judgment was a plague which destroyed a relatively small number of them.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The grace of this was in that the plague was stopped, as it was at the time of the earlier rebellion (<a href='B:40 16:48'>Num 16:48</a>; <a href='B:40 16:50'>Num 16:50</a> cp. <a href='B:40 25:8'>Num 25:8</a>); when it had been in God's intention to totally destroy the entire people (:26). But as Paul brings out in Romans 1-8, that grace was all the same articulated through justice / judgment being done.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The grace of this was in that righteousness was counted to Phinehas. For none are righteous in their own strength; as Paul explains in Romans, it is credited to us by grace through faith. But how was it eternally credited to him? For descendants aren't counted righteous just because of their ancestors. The implication would therefore be that this imputed righteousness meant that he would therefore not die eternally; but he resurrected to life eternal. And this again is nothing but pure grace.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In <a href='B:50 9:18'>Deu 9:18</a> Moses says that his prayer of <a href='B:20 32:32'>Exo 32:32</a> was heard- in that he was not going to enter the land, but they would. Hence his urging of them to go ahead and enter the land- to experience what his self-sacrifice had enabled. In this we see the economy of God, and how He works even through sin. On account of Moses’ temporary rashness of speech, he was excluded- and yet by this, his prayer was heard. He was temporarily blotted out of the book, so that they might enter. Moses’ fleeting requests to enter the land must be read as a flagging from the height of devotion he reached, rather like the Lord’s request to escape the cross in Gethsemane. But ultimately he did what he intended- he gave his place in the Kingdom / land so that they might enter [although of course he will be in the future Kingdom]. This is why Moses stresses on the last day of his life that he wouldn’t enter the land for Israel’s sake (<a href='B:50 1:37'>Deu 1:37</a>; <a href='B:50 3:26'>Deu 3:26</a>; <a href='B:50 4:21'>Deu 4:21</a>). He saw that his sin had been worked through, and the essential reason for him not entering was because of the offer he had made. It “went ill with him for their sakes” (AV). So here again, even in sin and failure, was to be found grace in the way God used it. See on <a href='B:20 32:32'>Exo 32:32</a>.</p>


