# comment

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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is a description of Saul's men prowling around the city, ensuring David didn't escape (:1). But the language is repeated in :14, with the Hebrew suggesting they would be made to do this again- in the condemnation of the last day. As they had prowled around the perimeters of the city like dogs, so they would be thrown out of Zion in the last day and wander in the darkness of rejection and condemnation. The idea is that they were living out their own condemnation. Their hatred of their brother led them to act out ahead of time the condemnation of the wicked.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Behold, they spew with their mouth; swords are in their lips-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Here again we see the lesson of Job's sufferings; that human words are of immense power, and can be as swords.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For, they say, who hears us?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Here we have an example of God perceiving what human words and attitudes mean in reality, before Him. For they likely didn't actually exalt that nobody heard their words, and that therefore they were unaccountable to God. But this was what their attitudes implied.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But You, Yahweh, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was in an apparently hopeless position, with the house he was in, and the entire city, encicled by Saul's men (:1,6). But he was confident that at that moment, Yahweh was laughing at those men. He was treating them as the Gentile nations. David commonly perceives the hateful and apostate within Israel as mere Gentiles. Or perhaps "the nations" was added under inspiration at a later point, perhaps during the exile.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Oh my Strength, I watch for You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As Saul "watched" or "kept" the house, David's response was to keep or watch over God's ways (:1 s:w:).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For God is my high tower-</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>). This was his ultimate defence, rather than the house in which he was taking refuge at the time (:1). 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'>My God will go before me with His grace-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was inside his house surrounded by his enemies (:1), and escaped through a window. As he planned the escape, he believed that God's grace would go before him. At the end of his life he appears to reflect upon this incident, glorying that although he was "compassed about" with the threat of death, seeing the house was surrounded by Saul's men intending to kill him; yet God's grace had somehow gone before David and prepared a way of escape (<a href='B:230 18:5'>Psa 18:5</a>; <a href='B:230 18:18'>Psa 18:18</a> s:w:).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God will let me look at my enemies in triumph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>AV "See my desire upon my enemies". David's desire to see his enemies condemned seems to sharply contradict the Father who has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (<a href='B:330 33:11'>Eze 33:11</a>).</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t kill them immediately, or my people may forget. Scatter them by Your power-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David wanted them to be destroyed (:13), but he wanted them to be scattered and then destroyed, so that their doom would be a lesson to as many people as possible. This was what happened to God's apostate people- they were scattered as a lesson to the nations.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And bring them down-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The phrase is usually used by David to mean 'bring them down to the grave'.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Lord our shield-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Another allusion to the promise that God would be a shield to Abraham and his seed. The promises to Abraham were continually appealed to by David in his times of crises.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We note how "sin" and "words" are paralleled. Pride and words spoken are the basis for their condemnation- things which would be shrugged off merely as surface level weakness by many today.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the curses and lies which they utter-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There were no expletives used in ancient languages. The curses they uttered were imprecations for Divine judgment upon David; and he asks for these curses to come true for them. But again we note the lack of grace and desire for their repentance on David's part.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Consume them in wrath, consume them, and they will be no more. Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that he wanted the God of Jacob to be known as king throughout the eretz promised to Abraham. He wished for the Kingdom, the dominion of the king, to be known within that entire territory. And David considered that the destruction of the wicked would achieve thIsa.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>At evening let them return. Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The ecclesia in the wilderness were ‘types of us’. They were rejected from entry into the Kingdom; and when that finally sunk in, they “returned [s:w. convert, turn back] and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice” (<a href='B:50 1:45'>Deu 1:45</a>). The rejected will “return [s:w. convert] at evening: they make a noise like a dog [whining for acceptance], and go round about the city [cp. the foolish virgins knocking on the closed door]”. This is the picture of <a href='B:730 22:15'>Rev 22:15</a>, where the dogs wander outside the closed city of Zion. The language here repeats that of :6. This was a description of Saul's men prowling around the city, ensuring David didn't escape (:1). But the language is repeated here in :14, but with the Hebrew suggesting they would be made to do this again- in the condemnation of the last day. As they had prowled around the perimeters of the city like dogs, so they would be thrown out of Zion in the last day and wander in the darkness of rejection and condemnation. The idea is that they were living out their own condemnation. Their hatred of their brother led them to act out ahead of time the condemnation of the wicked.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They shall wander up and down for food, and howl all night because they aren’t satisfied-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was confident that God would deliver him from his encirclement, and that all who were out watching for him that night would find he had escaped and be "not satisfied". But he sees this as looking forward to their ultimate disappointment in the condemnation of the last day; see on :14. The lack of "satisfaction" is a major theme in the descriptions of condemnation for those who break the covenant (s:w. <a href='B:30 26:26'>Lev 26:26</a>). And it is the principle we must live by today; that the only satisfaction is in the things of God's Kingdom. Even in this life, the eye is not "satisfied" with seeing or wealth (s:w. <a href='B:240 27:20'>Pro 27:20</a>; <a href='B:250 1:8'>Ecc 1:8</a>; <a href='B:250 4:8'>Ecc 4:8</a>; <a href='B:250 5:10'>Ecc 5:10</a>). And those who seek such satisfaction from those things will find that dissatisfaction is the lead characteristic of their condemnation (<a href='B:230 59:15'>Psa 59:15</a>). Tragically Solomon knew the truth of all this but lived otherwise; just as so many do who give lip service to the idea that the things of the flesh cannot satisfy.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But I will sing of Your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of Your grace in the morning. For You have been my high tower, a refuge in the day of my distress-</p><h2>David escaped by night from his house when surrounded by Saul's men (:1). This Psalm is his confident prayer before escaping out of the window. He was confident that by morning he would be safe and able to praise God for the deliverance. But the words also have generic reference to how 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.</h2>


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<h2>For the Chief Musician. To the tune of The Lily of the Covenant. A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God not going out with Israel's armies, and their turning back from their enemies at this time (:10; <a href='B:230 44:10'>Psa 44:10</a>), is all the language of the punishments for Israel breaking the covenant. But this Psalms 60 is a celebration of victory; a victory given because they had kept the covenant (:1). So the idea may be that David saw in the victory that now Israel were back in covenant relationship with Yahweh. Hence it is "to the tune of The Lily of the Covenant".</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, You have rejected us. You have broken us down, You have been angry. Restore us again-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm is clearly related to Psalms 44, which appears to be a comment upon a temporary set back and defeat during this campaign against Edom. But despite this, the Psalm glorifies how God had come through for His people, despite the temporary reverses. See on :10,11.</p>


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<h2>You have made the land tremble, You have torn it. Mend its fractures, for it quakes-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Fractures" is "breaches", and we wonder whether the Psalm was rewritten or reapplied with relevance to the exiles. A case can be made that the whole of book 3 of the Psalter (Psalms 73-89) was written / edited in Babylon. The Psalms of Korah (83-87) seem to reflect the longing of the righteous remnant in Babylon for the temple services. And it is just possible that the entire Psalter was re-edited there in Babylon, under inspiration- for so many Psalms have elements of appropriacy to the exiles in Babylon and the restoration. The LXX titles of Psalms 56 [“Concerning the people that were removed from the Sanctuary”] and 71 [“Of the sons of Jonadab, and the first that were taken captive”] speak for themselves. Likewise the LXX attributes Psalms 146-148 to Haggai and Zechariah. Even Psalms 60, whose title apparently refers to David, is full of reference to the exiles: "O God, You have scattered us [recognizing God's hand in the Babylonian scattering of Judah]; O restore us again [RV]"; to which God responds that the land is in fact His and His alone (<a href='B:230 60:6-9'>Psa 60:6-9</a>), i:e. Judah did not in His eyes belong to the Babylonian nor Persian empires. The request for God to "heal the breaches" (<a href='B:230 60:2'>Psa 60:2</a>) was answered in that God raised up Ezra and Nehemiah with the potential power to indeed mend the breaches in Jerusalem and the temple.</p>


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<h2>You have shown Your people hard things, You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Taking the cup of wine is a double symbol: of blessing (<a href='B:530 10:16'>1Co 10:16</a>; <a href='B:530 11:25'>1Co 11:25</a>), and of condemnation (<a href='B:230 60:3'>Psa 60:3</a>; <a href='B:230 75:8'>Psa 75:8</a>; <a href='B:290 51:17'>Isa 51:17</a>; <a href='B:300 25:15'>Jer 25:15</a>; <a href='B:730 14:10'>Rev 14:10</a>; <a href='B:730 16:19'>Rev 16:19</a>). Why this use of a double symbol? Surely the Lord designed this sacrament in order to highlight the two ways which are placed before us by taking that cup: it is either to our blessing, or to our condemnation. Each breaking of bread is a further stage along one of those two roads. The relevance of this to the exiles is that indeed they had been shown hard things and had drunk the wine of condemnation, 'staggering' as a result of the invasion (<a href='B:290 29:9'>Isa 29:9</a>). They themselves were stiffnecked (s:w. "hard"), and reaped an appropriate judgment.</p>


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<h2>You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The truth" is a reference to the covenant; see on :1. The poles or banners of the Israelite army were in the name of that covenant. But there is a deeper, Messianic connection between "the truth" and the banner or pole. This is another link between the concept of ‘truth’ and the cross. In <a href='B:230 60:4'>Psa 60:4</a> God’s Truth is displayed on the banner (s:w. “pole”, on which the snake was lifted up). John struggled with words, even under inspiration, to get over to us the tremendous truth and reality of what he witnessed at the cross (<a href='B:500 19:35'>Joh 19:35</a>). God is the ultimate Truth, and the cross was the ultimate declaration of His Truth.</p>


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<h2>So that Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and answer us-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The beloved of Yahweh" was Israel nationally (s:w. <a href='B:50 33:12'>Deu 33:12</a>; <a href='B:300 11:15'>Jer 11:15</a>; <a href='B:300 12:7'>Jer 12:7</a>). But it was also David personally; <a href='B:230 108:6'>Psa 108:6</a> has the same words, but concludes "and answer me". A Psalm about David's personal deliverance is extended to all Israel. David saw himself as representative of God's people. It could be that Solomon is in view also; for his original name was Jedidiah (<a href='B:100 12:25'>2Sa 12:25</a>), 'the beloved of Yahweh', referred to in that way by David in <a href='B:230 45:1'>Psa 45:1</a>. Perhaps Solomon was involved in the battle against the Edomites and David is asking for his son to be preserved.</p>


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<h2>God has spoken from His sanctuary: I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Presumably there was a direct Divine communication from the sanctuary, perhaps through the mouth of Nathan, encouraging Israel to continue in the Edom campaign despite the reverses experienced (see on Psalms 44). The idea of 'division' and 'measuring' is 'possession' and inheritance (as <a href='B:60 18:10'>Jos 18:10</a>). The idea therefore is that Israel is God's, and He had given it to Israel for inheritance; therefore those seeking to take it from them would be defeated. Perhaps Succoth and Shechem are mentioned because of their connections with Jacob, mentioned together in <a href='B:10 33:17-18'>Gen 33:17-18</a>. As He had been with Jacob, despite allowing him to experience many setbacks and near defeats, so He would be with the later seed of Israel.</p>


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<h2>Gilead is Mine and Manasseh is Mine. Ephraim also is the helmet of My head. Judah is My sceptre-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The emphasis is that the land belongs to God, it "is Mine"; therefore those seeking to take it from God's people. would be defeated. Gilead and Manasseh represent the territory east of the Jordan; and Ephraim and Judah refer to the tribes west of the Jordan. The territories east of the Jordan just as much were God's as those to the west of it; for the Edomites were seeking to take firstly the Israelite territory east of the Jordan.</p>


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<h2>Moab is My wash basin. I will throw My shoe on Edom, I shout in triumph over Philistia-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They were to become subservient to Yahweh. And that could imply that the hope was that they would accept Him as their God. For that was what conquered peoples usually did. David had earlier shouted in triumph over the Philistines when he slew Goliath; and that was to prepare him for this later victory. Circumstances repeat in our lives because they are under God's control.</p>


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<h2>Who will bring me into the strong city? Who has led me to Edom?- </h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Strong city" can mean the fortified, strengthened city under siege (<a href='B:120 25:2'>2Ki 25:2</a> s:w:). The reference may be to Sela or Petra, Edom's capital, which claimed to be fortified against any invader (<a href='B:380 1:3'>Oba 1:3</a>).</p>


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<h2>Haven’t You, God, rejected us? You don’t go out with our armies, God-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm is clearly related to Psalms 44, which appears to be a comment upon a temporary set back and defeat during this campaign against Edom. But despite this, the Psalm glorifies how God had come through for His people, despite the temporary reverses. So this comment that God has rejected them would be looking back to how they once felt; for this Psalm is a victory song over Edom after defeating them (:1).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God not going out with Israel's armies, and their turning back from their enemies at this time (<a href='B:230 44:10'>Psa 44:10</a>), is all the language of the punishments for Israel breaking the covenant. But this Psalms 60 is a celebration of victory; a victory given because they had kept the covenant (:1). So the idea may be that David saw in the victory that now Israel were back in covenant relationship with Yahweh.</p>


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<h2>Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Perhas a reference to some attempt to hire mercenaries to help them in the campaign against Edom.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>From the end of the land I will call to You when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Although this is a Psalm of David (:1) it clearly has reference to the captives who were located at "the end of the land" / eretz promised to Abraham. He feels his own mental ("heart") and physical ("rock") strength has been overwhelmed and so he throws himself upon God. We too are brought to realize our own lack of human strength so that we might more powerfully turn to God. The rock higher than David was ultimately God, but he may also have in view the rock of mount Zion. In Absalom's time, this would have been where the sanctuary was, which he so hankered to return to.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy-</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.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will dwell in Your tent forever, I will take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Clearly David longed to be back in the sanctuary. But he feels that he is in fact underneath the cherubim wings over the ark, with the glory of God above him and the blood of atonement beneath him. And he realized that whether or not in this life he ever got back to the sanctuary, he would eternally dwell in God's tabernacle.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You, God, have heard my vows-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Vows were made as promises to do things for God if He came through for you. So this still suggests that David was too works based in his attitude.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> This seems another appeal to the promises to Abraham. The inheritance promised to Abraham's seed was to be experienced by David.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You will prolong the king’s life; his years shall be for generations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>If this Psalm originally came from the wilderness years when David was not yet king, then this reflects his deep faith in Samuel's words that he should be king. Or if the Psalm has application to Absalom's rebellion and David's exile then, we could then detect an allusion to the promises to David in 2 Samuel 7. He saw that they implied his own eternity. Perhaps by "the king" he therefore has in view the Messianic king from his seed, rather than himself. The prospect of eternity, of the Kingdom established on earth, is for all believers the perspective on current exiles and rejections.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He shall be enthroned in God’s presence forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This surely alludes to the word in the promises to David that his throne would be established "in the presence" (<a href='B:100 7:16'>2Sa 7:16</a>). The translations tend to add "in your presence", but the grammar is indeterminate. It could as well mean in God's presence, and this is how David interprets it here in <a href='B:230 61:7'>Psa 61:7</a>.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Appoint Your grace and truth that they may preserve him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This prayer for the "king" in the third person may read strangely. Perhaps David speaks of himself as king in the third person because at the time he wrote the Psalm he was not actually king. Or if he has his future eternity in view, or that of his Messianic seed, that had also not yet begun. But he believed that "grace and truth", a term often used about God's promises, would bring about the fulfilment of those promises.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from Him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :4 and elsewhere, the Psalm seems relevant to David's betrayal by Ahithophel and Absalom. He emphasizes that God alone can save; seeing he has been stabbed in the back by those he considered his own family and friends.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Alone" is related to the word for "one". Because God is one, the only source of power, we are to trust in Him alone. Here we see the meaning of the unity of God in practice. 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><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will never be greatly shaken-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's faith grows as his prayer goes on, for by :6 he is saying that he will not be shaken at all. And so we find in our prayer experience too; the process of prayer is such that we rise from our knees far stronger in faith and clarity of spiritual understanding than when we knelt down.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How long will you assault a man, would all of you throw him down, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "assault" would refer to their intentions (:4) and words. David sees their attitudes and words for what they really were. David feels his power is tottering, but is angry they seek to push him over.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They fully intend to throw him down from his high place-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Fully intend" is s:w. "counsel", the word used of Ahithophel, David's counsellor who was Bathsheba's grandfather, who later betrayed him and turned against him (<a href='B:100 15:12'>2Sa 15:12</a>; <a href='B:100 16:23'>2Sa 16:23</a>). Perhaps David is commenting upon Ahithophel's counsel to Absalom which was designed to destroy him. See on <a href='B:230 32:8'>Psa 32:8</a>.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We may well enquire how David thought he knew the state of heart [AV "inward part"] of his enemies (<a href='B:230 5:9'>Psa 5:9</a>; <a href='B:230 36:1'>Psa 36:1</a>; <a href='B:230 49:11'>Psa 49:11</a>; <a href='B:230 62:4'>Psa 62:4</a>; <a href='B:230 64:6'>Psa 64:6</a>). Perhaps it was a result of his reflection upon how he had only had a right spirit or heart given by God "within" him as a result of his repentance (<a href='B:230 51:10'>Psa 51:10</a> s:w:). His enemies were impenitent, and so perhaps on that basis he knew what was in their hearts.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from Him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again we note that "alone" is related to the word for "one". The unity of God implies our total trust in Him alone. And we have another example of how within prayer (for this Psalm is a prayer) we can deviate from talking to God, to addressing ourselves within our own self talk. This is the stuff of real spiritual mindedness. David's "expectation" in the context of <a href='B:230 62:5'>Psa 62:5</a> was the continuation of his own kingdom, despite all the threats against it from the likes of Saul, Absalom and others who would usurp his Davidic kingship and kingdom. Solomon likely uses the word for "expectation" with the same subtext; that all opposition to him was based upon a false expectation which would be dashed by God (s:w. <a href='B:240 10:28'>Pro 10:28</a>; <a href='B:240 11:7'>Pro 11:7</a>; <a href='B:240 11:23'>Pro 11:23</a>; <a href='B:240 23:18'>Pro 23:18</a>; <a href='B:240 24:14'>Pro 24:14</a>). The hope or expectation of David was that of all exiled Judah (s:w. <a href='B:300 31:17'>Jer 31:17</a>; <a href='B:310 3:29'>Lam 3:29</a>):&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress. I will not be shaken-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David in his earlier Psalms exalts and boasts to God that his feet have not slipped / been shaken, indeed he was overly confident that his feet would never slip / "be shaken" (<a href='B:230 17:5'>Psa 17:5</a>; <a href='B:230 21:7'>Psa 21:7</a>; <a href='B:230 55:22'>Psa 55:22</a>; <a href='B:230 62:2'>Psa 62:2</a>; <a href='B:230 62:6'>Psa 62:6</a>; <a href='B:230 125:1'>Psa 125:1</a>). His more mature reflection is that he had wrongly said "I shall never slip [AV "be moved"]" (<a href='B:230 30:6'>Psa 30:6</a>), and his feet had indeed slipped, not least over the Bathsheba incident (<a href='B:230 38:16'>Psa 38:16</a>; <a href='B:230 94:18'>Psa 94:18</a>). Solomon didn't learn this lesson, for he likewise assumed that the righteous would never be moved / slip (<a href='B:240 10:30'>Pro 10:30</a>), although he appears to accept that even a righteous man like his father had indeed slipped (<a href='B:240 25:26'>Pro 25:26</a>). And Solomon himself did so, not learning the lesson from his father's mistaken assumption that the righteous can never slip.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>With God is my salvation and my honour. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The continued language of rocks and caves is appropriate to David in the wilderness, running either from Saul or Absalom.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Trust in Him at all times, you people-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is quite a challenge- to consistently trust God "at all times", in all situations, and not just those desperate ones or ones which nudge us specifically towards faith in God.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Selah-</p><h2>David knew his sinfulness, he knew his reliance upon the grace of God, more and more as he got older. For this Psalm clearly has some relevance to his situation whilst fleeing from Absalom. 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>). He wants others to find God a "refuge for us" as He had been for David. 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.</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up; they are together lighter than a breath-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David eagerly looks forward to the judgment seat (<a href='B:230 62:9'>Psa 62:9</a> Revelation , 12) as a source of comfort in his present distress. Those whom he had trusted in had betrayed him, whatever their social status. But David reasons further to perceive that in fact this is how all men are. These ideas are repeated in the context of the exiles, encouraging them that literally all men, even the great and might of the Babylonian-Persian empire, are too light to influence the balances of Divine judgment (<a href='B:290 40:15'>Isa 40:15</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t trust in oppression, don’t become vain in robbery-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This seems to have been a characteristic of the reigns of Saul and Absalom. But the language of oppression and robbery is often used in the prophets concerning the leadership of God's people at later points (<a href='B:290 30:12'>Isa 30:12</a>; <a href='B:290 59:13'>Isa 59:13</a>). This was the equivalent of how Saul oppressed David (<a href='B:230 119:121-122'>Psa 119:121-122</a>; <a href='B:230 119:134'>Psa 119:134</a>). Samuel's insistence that he has not oppressed the people is in the context of his warning that Saul would do this (<a href='B:90 12:3-4'>1Sa 12:3-4</a>). When Solomon later condemns the 'oppressors' (s:w. <a href='B:240 14:31'>Pro 14:31</a>; <a href='B:240 22:16'>Pro 22:16</a>; <a href='B:240 28:3'>Pro 28:3</a>; <a href='B:240 28:24'>Pro 28:24</a>), he has in view a wishing of judgment upon the house of Saul. "The poor" whom they had oppressed would easily refer to David (<a href='B:90 18:23'>1Sa 18:23</a>; <a href='B:230 34:6'>Psa 34:6</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The next verses explain why. Our hearts are to be set exclusively upon God and the saving power of His grace (:11,12). Increased wealth tempts people to trust in that wealth for power; but the only power is in God's free gift of grace.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Once::. twice" appears to be a Hebraism meaning 'certainly'. "Power" is here placed in opposition to human riches and oppression (:10). The attraction of wealth is here defined as "power". And yet it is mythical that wealth can buy power, ultimately. All power is with God, and the battle is not to the strong nor the race won by the swift. The power of God is revealed above all in His grace (:12); this is His ultimate power, of an order far above human wealth.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This surely refers to David's experience at the hands of Saul, and yet it was appropriated by him to the situation he endured in exile from Absalom.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, You are my God; I will earnestly seek You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was fleeing from Saul, but he perceives this as a fleeing towards God, a seeking for Him. We too mush see the push factors of life as in fact pull factors towards God.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This longing for God was in terms of longing to be able to worship Him again in the sanctuary, from which he was exiled during the persecution from Saul (:2). And yet he was to come to realize that there in the desert he was as much in God's presence, even beneath the cherubim wings of the ark, as he was in the sanctuary.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So I have seen You in the sanctuary, watching Your power and Your glory-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As David had watched the glory of God and sensed His power over the ark in the sanctuary, "so" He sees God's presence in the desert.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Because Your grace is better than life, my lips shall praise You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that ‘more than my own life do I value God’s love / grace, His hesed , covenant love, for me’. Even if he were to die, having known God's grace was enough, and David would ever praise God for that.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So I will bless You while I live, I will lift up my hands in Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :3, David feels that the wonder of praising God at this moment was enough for him, whether or not he was to die at the time.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same word used of how Israel in the desert were "satisfied" with the food of God's provision (<a href='B:20 16:8'>Exo 16:8</a>; <a href='B:20 16:12'>Exo 16:12</a>). David clearly saw them at that time as a precedent for himself whilst in the desert (:1). Being "satisfied" with food was the continual promise for obedience to the covenant (<a href='B:50 8:10'>Deu 8:10</a>; <a href='B:50 8:12'>Deu 8:12</a>; <a href='B:50 11:15'>Deu 11:15</a>; <a href='B:50 31:20'>Deu 31:20</a>). But he speaks in the future, "shall be satisfied", perhaps ultimately with his eye upon the Kingdom of God coming upon earth; although clearly he expected some form of this in his own immediate experience in this life.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My mouth shall praise You with joyful lips-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's joy was not in the experience of deliverance, but in his perception of God's grace (:3).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>when I remember You on my bed, and think about You in the night watches-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "bed" would have been somewhere in the desert whilst on the run from Saul (:1). David speaks of how he "meditates day and night" on God's law (<a href='B:230 1:2'>Psa 1:2</a>), and also of how he meditates upon "God" at night (<a href='B:230 63:6'>Psa 63:6</a>) and in the day (<a href='B:230 71:24'>Psa 71:24</a>). "The word was God", and still is, in the sense that our devotions to God are to be according to His word; for in practice, what we see of God is largely through His hand and statements in history which we find in His word.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You have been my help-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the Hezekiah context, this would have applied to how Ahaz had given money to the king of Assyria, but "he helped him not" (<a href='B:140 28:21'>2Ch 28:21</a> s:w:). God was thereby revealed as the sole "hope of Israel".</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will rejoice in the shadow of Your wings-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This could mean that David was full of faith that he would return to the sanctuary; or that he felt that even in exile from the sanctuary, he was as it were right there beneath the cherubic wings over the ark, with God's glory above him and the blood of atonement beneath him. This was an encouragement to the exiles.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My soul stays close to You, Your right hand upholds me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David responded to their seeking of him by seeking God more. He uses the language of the hunt and chase to describe how he was drawing closer to God: "My soul followeth hard after thee" (<a href='B:230 63:8'>Psa 63:8</a>; Psalms 63 is a wilderness psalm, see title). "Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul::. let all those that seek thee rejoice" (<a href='B:230 40:14'>Psa 40:14</a>; <a href='B:230 40:16'>Psa 40:16</a>). In this sense, David felt he wasn't fleeing from&nbsp; his enemies as much as fleeing to&nbsp; God : "Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies (from whom he was running): I flee unto thee to hide me" (<a href='B:230 143:9'>Psa 143:9</a>). This fleeing to&nbsp; God didn't mean that David and Jesus didn't respond or retaliate verbally; both of them, especially the Lord Jesus, did. They both pleaded their innocence, and accused their enemies of being unfair and hypocritical. Yet this must have been done from a genuine motive of love; as David loved Saul, as the thought of Saul's death must have torn at his heart, so the Lord Jesus loved Israel, weeping over Jerusalem, wishing to himself like a child for the impossible: that they would know him as their Saviour. Both David and Jesus had a real sense of direction, they could see that their mental, emotional and physical sufferings were leading them towards an altogether higher relationship with the Father. They took those sufferings as an almost welcome push towards the Father. They had a sure sense of spiritual direction in all their afflictions; this accounts for the human loneliness which they both felt. David felt that no one else understood (<a href='B:230 14:2'>Psa 14:2</a>, a wilderness psalm) or was really seeking towards God as he was doing (<a href='B:230 27:4'>Psa 27:4</a>; <a href='B:230 27:8'>Psa 27:8</a>). The Hebrew for "understand" here is that translated "wise" concerning David in 1 Samuel 18. &nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But those who seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Saul sought&nbsp; to take David's life. So many of the Psalms contain imprecations against those who were seeking David's soul- not just his physical life, but seeking to destroy his very being (e:g. <a href='B:230 35:4'>Psa 35:4</a>; <a href='B:230 40:14'>Psa 40:14</a>; <a href='B:230 54:1'>Psa 54:1</a>; <a href='B:230 63:9'>Psa 63:9</a>; <a href='B:230 70:2'>Psa 70:2</a>; <a href='B:230 71:13'>Psa 71:13</a>). These imprecations expose the evil of Saul, and asks God to condemn him. Some of those Psalms appear to have been written by David in the Saul days, and then rewritten at the time of Absalom's rebellion- another man who sought David's soul, and yet whom David loved:&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's characteristic of self-examination cannot be unrelated to the fact that while on the run from Saul, he keenly meditated on the word of God (largely in the Law); Psalms 119 has many connections between his love of the word and the outlaw experiences. Perhaps David thought so much of the Law that he came close to the spirit of Moses in the desert; for "those that seek after my soul::. shall go into the lower parts of the earth" is clearly alluding to the fate of Moses' enemies, Korah et al&nbsp;.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The lower parts of the earth" may well be a reference to some supposed place of punishment after death. But we know from Psalms 49 and so often in the Psalms, that David believed death was unconsciousness. He may therefore have been alluding to a common curse formula, probably used by Saul against David, and wishing it to come back upon Saul.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall be jackal food-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When this happened to Saul and he was slain by his own sword, David wept deeply and genuinely. But what had happened was the fulfilment of his own prayer. Perhaps the desperate attempt to rescue Saul's body from the walls of Bethshan was an attempt to stop the latter part of the verse coming true. David surely learned the lesson we all have to- that we must be careful what we ask for in prayer lest we receive it.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :2, this Psalm appears to be based during the insurrection of Absalom.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hear my voice, God, in my complaint. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Prayer is perhaps the area where it is easiest to have only a surface level of spirituality, without getting down to real faith, real perseverance in prayer, real wrestling with God. Elijah " prayed in his prayer" (<a href='B:660 5:17'>Jas 5:17</a> AVmg:) reflects the Spirit's recognition that there is prayer, and real prayer. “Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer” (<a href='B:230 64:1'>Psa 64:1</a> AV) seems to say the same: there is our true, pleading voice: and the outward form of prayer. The form of words we use, the outward form, conceals the real thing; the real groaning of spirit which is counted by God as the real prayer. The tendency to multiply words in prayer without intensely meaning them is probably behind the Lord's teaching about faith as a grain of mustard seed, which could move a mountain (<a href='B:490 17:20'>Luk 17:20</a>). He's surely saying that a little bit of the real thing can do such wonders.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Who we are as persons is effectively our prayer and plea to God. This conception of prayer explains why often weeping, crying, waiting, meditating etc. are spoken of as "prayer", although there was no specific verbalizing of requests (<a href='B:230 5:1-2'>Psa 5:1-2</a>; <a href='B:230 6:8'>Psa 6:8</a>; <a href='B:230 18:1-3'>Psa 18:1-3</a>; <a href='B:230 18:6'>Psa 18:6</a>; <a href='B:230 40:1'>Psa 40:1</a>; <a href='B:230 42:8'>Psa 42:8</a>; <a href='B:230 64:1'>Psa 64:1</a> Heb:; 65:1,2; 66:17-20; <a href='B:450 8:22'>Zec 8:22</a>). The association between prayer and weeping is especially common: <a href='B:90 1:10'>1Sa 1:10</a>; <a href='B:230 39:12'>Psa 39:12</a>; <a href='B:230 55:1-2'>Psa 55:1-2</a>; <a href='B:500 11:41-42'>Joh 11:41-42</a>; <a href='B:650 5:7'>Heb 5:7</a>, especially in the Lord's life and the Messianic Psalms. "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer" (<a href='B:230 6:8-9'>Psa 6:8-9</a>) crystallizes the point.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Conspiracy" sounds like the time of Absalom's putsch. "Noisy crowd" is AV "insurrection". But that is the same word used of Ahithophel in <a href='B:230 55:14'>Psa 55:14</a>: "We walked to God’s house in company". "In company" is a word only used elsewhere in <a href='B:230 64:2'>Psa 64:2</a>, where it is translated "insurrection" (AV), again in the context of Absalom. The double meaning of the word chosen reflects the duplicity of Ahithophel.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When men speak hard words against us, the situation on earth is somehow mirrored in the court of Heaven- <a href='B:230 64:3'>Psa 64:3</a>; <a href='B:230 64:7'>Psa 64:7</a> speak of how men "aim their arrows, even bitter words"; and God responds by shooting arrows from His Heavenly control room. The language of sharpening could suggest that David wrote this as he sensed the oncoming insurrection of Absalom (:1,2).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Nathan had told David that he was to suffer the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba for the rest of his life. But in the Psalms associated with Absalom's rebellion, which was a consequence of his sin (Ahithophel was Bathsheba's grandfather), David often laments that he is suffering as an innocent man. This is another reason for querying whether he maintained the intensity of repentance for the sin which he had at the time. And we can likely identify with that weakness; the intensity of repentance is hard to maintain, and we often rework the narrative of what happened in our own minds- biased of course towards our own justification. See on :6.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David appears to have inside knowledge of how they were congratulating themselves on their plans. Absalom's plans for rebellion were therefore more or less known to David ahead of time. And yet in love he tolerated him and Ahithophel, perhaps in desperate hope of their repentance. This typifies how the Lord Jesus knew ahead of time that Judas would betray Him and yet still lovingly tolerated him, and did not at all take precipitate, defensive action.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They say, Who will see them?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again we doubt whether these men really thought their plans were invisible to God. But this was the subconscious state of their minds. This was how God read their attitude and perhaps revealed it to David.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They plot injustice, saying, We have made a perfect plan! Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We may well enquire how David thought he knew the state of heart [AV "inward part"] of his enemies (<a href='B:230 5:9'>Psa 5:9</a>; <a href='B:230 36:1'>Psa 36:1</a>; <a href='B:230 49:11'>Psa 49:11</a>; <a href='B:230 62:4'>Psa 62:4</a>; <a href='B:230 64:6'>Psa 64:6</a>). Perhaps it was a result of his reflection upon how he had only had a right spirit or heart given by God "within" him as a result of his repentance (<a href='B:230 51:10'>Psa 51:10</a> s:w:). His enemies were impenitent, and so perhaps on that basis he knew what was in their hearts.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>AV has "They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search". Nathan had told David that he was to suffer the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba for the rest of his life. But in the Psalms associated with Absalom's rebellion, which was a consequence of his sin (Ahithophel was Bathsheba's grandfather), David often laments that he is suffering as an innocent man. This is another reason for querying whether he maintained the intensity of repentance for the sin which he had at the time. And we can likely identify with that weakness; the intensity of repentance is hard to maintain, and we often rework the narrative of what happened in our own minds- biased of course towards our own justification. See on :4.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But God will shoot at them, they will be suddenly struck down with an arrow-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David rejoices that Divine "arrows" were sent to destroy his enemies (<a href='B:230 7:13'>Psa 7:13</a>; <a href='B:230 18:14'>Psa 18:14</a>; <a href='B:230 45:5'>Psa 45:5</a>; <a href='B:230 64:7'>Psa 64:7</a>; <a href='B:230 144:6'>Psa 144:6</a>), in fulfilment of God's promise to do so to the sinful within Israel (<a href='B:50 32:23'>Deu 32:23</a>; <a href='B:50 32:42'>Deu 32:42</a>). But David was failing to realize that those same arrows had been fired by God into him in judgment for his sin (<a href='B:230 38:2'>Psa 38:2</a>). This realization was perhaps to help David understand that his rejoicing in Divine arrows of judgment being fired at his enemies had not been mature; for he himself had to realize that he was worthy of the same. But as noted on :4,6, it appears David didn't perceive this as he might have done.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Their own tongues shall ruin them; all who see them will shake their heads-</p><h2>Speaking of the sudden destruction of the wicked at the future judgment, David reflected: “So they shall make their own tongues to fall upon themselves” (<a href='B:230 64:8'>Psa 64:8</a>). Unsound speech will be condemned, or [will lead to our] condemnation (<a href='B:630 2:8'>Tit 2:8</a>). The implication seems to be that our words will be quoted back to us during the judgment process. Brother, sister, think about thIsa. Ancient Hebrew had no expletives. Curses were uttered in terms of&nbsp; imprecations wishing Divine judgment against a person at the last day. And so David asks that these curses uttered upon him come literally true for those who spoke them.</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>All mankind shall be in awe. They shall declare the work of God, and shall wisely ponder what He has done-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The judgment of his opponents which David had in view was therefore that at the last day. For it is a theme in Bible teaching about judgment that the judgment of the wicked will in some sense be public, before others, and the observers are brought to God by what they see (<a href='B:290 26:9'>Isa 26:9</a>; <a href='B:730 16:15'>Rev 16:15</a>):&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A song-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The context appears to be David at the time of Absalom's rebellion, thanking God for restoring him, and looking ahead to God's Kingdom coming upon earth.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise waits for You, God, in Zion. To You shall vows be performed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had made various vows as to what he would do if he returned to Zion. And now he was to fulfil them, and this song is one of them. The Hebrew implies "silent praise", a way of expressing the inadequacy of the audible song which David has composed. There may be an allusion to the silence in the sanctuary (later the temple courts) as the people awaited the reappearance of the High Priest on the day of atonement to declare their forgiveness. And there was to be silent praise this had been granted. As noted on :3,4, David seems aware that his suffering at the hands of Absalom was a consequence for his sin with Bathsheba, and he thanks God for his forgiveness. I have noted elsewhere however that he seemed to struggle with it all, with some of the Absalom period Psalms reflecting his feeling that he was suffering as an innocent man.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Who we are as persons is effectively our prayer and plea to God. This conception of prayer explains why often weeping, crying, waiting, meditating etc. are spoken of as "prayer" , although there was no specific verbalizing of requests (<a href='B:230 5:1-2'>Psa 5:1-2</a>; <a href='B:230 6:8'>Psa 6:8</a>; <a href='B:230 18:1-3'>Psa 18:1-3</a>; <a href='B:230 18:6'>Psa 18:6</a>; <a href='B:230 40:1'>Psa 40:1</a>; <a href='B:230 42:8'>Psa 42:8</a>; <a href='B:230 64:1'>Psa 64:1</a> Heb:; 65:1,2; 66:17-20; <a href='B:450 8:22'>Zec 8:22</a>). The association between prayer and weeping is especially common: <a href='B:90 1:10'>1Sa 1:10</a>; <a href='B:230 39:12'>Psa 39:12</a>; <a href='B:230 55:1-2'>Psa 55:1-2</a>; <a href='B:500 11:41-42'>Joh 11:41-42</a>; <a href='B:650 5:7'>Heb 5:7</a>, especially in the Lord's life and the Messianic Psalms. "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer" (<a href='B:230 6:8-9'>Psa 6:8-9</a>) crystallizes the point.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You who hear prayer, to You all men will come-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This refers to the coming near in sacrifice which is alluded to in :4. David saw his experience of forgiveness and grace concerning his sin with Bathsheba as programmatic for "all men", and he wanted to teach and preach it.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It should be noted that David/Bathsheba language is used to describe Israel's spiritually fallen state (e:g. <a href='B:230 38:7'>Psa 38:7</a> = <a href='B:290 1:6'>Isa 1:6</a>; <a href='B:230 51:7'>Psa 51:7</a> = <a href='B:290 1:18'>Isa 1:18</a>; <a href='B:230 65:2'>Psa 65:2</a> = <a href='B:290 40:15'>Isa 40:15</a>). David recognized this in <a href='B:230 51:17'>Psa 51:17</a>, where he likens his own state to that of Zion, which also needed to be revived by God's mercy. As David's sin is likened to the killing of a lamb (<a href='B:100 12:4'>2Sa 12:4</a>), so the Jews killed Jesus. The troubles which therefore came upon his kingdom have certain similarities with the events of AD67-70:&nbsp; They were also repeated in the Nazi Holocaust, and will yet be. Israel are yet to fully repent after the pattern of David.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sins overwhelmed me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion to David's sin with Bathsheba which began in :1 is continued in :4. David perceives that his personal sin ("me") is representative of "our [plural] transgressions". He saw in his salvation by grace a pattern for all who would afterward sin, as he makes clear in Psalms 32. 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.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But You atoned for our transgressions-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The words used for the atoning of Israel's sins, if they were to follow the pattern of David in repentance (<a href='B:230 79:9'>Psa 79:9</a>; <a href='B:290 27:9'>Isa 27:9</a>; <a href='B:340 9:24'>Dan 9:24</a>):&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed is the person whom You choose and cause to come near, that he may live in Your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Come near" is a common idiom for offering sacrifice and worshipping God. The idea is used in <a href='B:230 32:9'>Psa 32:9</a> of how men ought to learn from David’s example, and not be as horses who must have their mouths kept in with a bridle. God doesn't want to force men to come near to Him through using the force of bit and bridle; rather does He want genuinely repentant sinners like David, in awe of His grace, to come to Him of themselves with the "understanding" of Him as the God of all grace. But God all the same causes men to "come near" to Him (<a href='B:230 65:4'>Psa 65:4</a> s:w:); but not be coercion, by bit and bridle, rather by the experience of His grace, through the operation of the Holy Spirit.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The reference to the "courts" of the "temple" indicates that the Psalm was rewritten and reapplied to the exiles, in their hope for restoration if they followed the pattern of David's repentance and restoration.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>By awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us, God of our salvation-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm now moves towards a greater relevance to the exiles (see on :4) and the hope of God's restored Kingdom coming on the earth. Such restoration was to be by grace alone, but was brought about in "righteousness", in justice. Paul in Romans 1-8 develops this theme; that condemned sinners are justified by grace in a way that is all the same "just". This is the wonder of God's grace and His saving work through His Son. For it was in Jesus, Yehoshuah, the salvation of God / Yah, that He saves rejected sinners in total justice.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You who are the hope of all the ends of the earth, of those who are far away on the sea-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This had particular reference to the exiles dwelling in Babylon and Assyria, at the ends of the eretz promised to Abraham. Those "on the sea" likewise refer to God's people scattered even beyond that territory, in what is symbolically called "the sea" of even more distant Gentile areas. The term is used in that sense in :7.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who by His power forms the mountains, having armed Yourself with strength-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The implication could be that God would form new "mountains", perhaps an intensive plural referring to the one great mountain, of Zion. He would take His strength to Himself in restoring and reforming Zion.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who stills the roaring of the seas, the crashing of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :5, the seas refer to the Gentile nations beyond the eretz or territory promised to Abraham. Those nations worldwide would be stilled, when God forms or reforms the great mountain of Zion (:6). The Lord Jesus spoke of the situation just prior to His return as the sea and waves roaring, apparently alluding here (<a href='B:490 21:25'>Luk 21:25</a>). "Stills" is literally 'to speak loudly to', and is usually translated "praise". The Lord Jesus fulfilled this, on God's behalf, by addressing the roaring of the storm on Galilee. This was a microcosm of the coming of His Kingdom. The language used here (and in <a href='B:230 74:23'>Psa 74:23</a>) is that used of the gathering of the Assyrian and Babylonian armies against Zion (<a href='B:290 13:4'>Isa 13:4</a>; <a href='B:290 17:12-13'>Isa 17:12-13</a>; <a href='B:290 25:5'>Isa 25:5</a>; <a href='B:300 25:31'>Jer 25:31</a>). But God's word was to calm that, in order to reestablish His Kingdom. And that is what we now read of in this Psalm.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They also who dwell in distant places are afraid at Your wonders. You call the morning’s dawn and the evening with songs of joy-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The picture is of the knowledge of the God of Israel spreading worldwide, from sun rise to sunset, so that dawn and evening would be accompanied by songs of praise from the Gentiles to the God of Israel. It was in this sense that the roaring of the Gentile seas would be made calm (:7).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You visit the earth, and water it; You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide them grain, for so You have ordained it-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Fecundity within the earth / eretz promised to Abraham is part of the blessing for obedience to the covenant. Here David envisages it as happening abundantly- because the people of the earth / land had followed his pathway of repentance and restoration. This is the picture of Eden restored, with the river of God providing enrichment; the picture is repeated in the final visions of God's Kingdom at the end of Revelation. "The river of God" is specifically envisaged as flowing from Zion (<a href='B:230 46:4'>Psa 46:4</a>), lending weight to my suggestions elsewhere that Eden was based around Zion.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You drench its furrows, You level its ridges, You soften it with showers, You bless it with a crop-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The impression is of superabundant blessing, with God's hand working to create the optimal topography of the land [although "ridges" may refer to the furrows] and provide the optimal rainfall for maximal fruitfulness. "Soften" is the word used of the melting away of the Canaanite tribes before Israel entered the land:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You crown the year with Your bounty, Your carts overflow with abundance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Crown" is better 'encircle'. The idea is that God's bounteous blessing is experienced all around the year- and not just at the time of harvest, as understood by the pagan religions. His blessing is not just occasional, but every moment. God's harvest or "carts" is that of His people, such is their identity in His Kingdom. But "carts" is s:w. "paths". The idea also is that this Kingdom situation would come about only when God's paths or ways were followed.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The wilderness grasslands overflow, the hills are clothed with gladness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The perspective on the land is as it were an aerial view, with the hills and valleys (:13) apparently clothed with blessing. David is seeing things from God's heavenly perspective; this is a vision of the Kingdom of God upon earth.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. A song. or Psalm-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I assume from <a href='B:230 72:20'>Psa 72:20</a> that this is still one of the Psalms of David. It is a Psalm of praise to God for all He has done in saving David from some specific situation (:10-12), but it has clearly been reused by a later inspired hand, given the reference to the temple (:13).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The invitation is to the entire eretz to convert to Israel's God. This Psalm imagines that David's invitation to them to praise God will be positively responded to (:4). </p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing to the glory of His name! Offer glory and praise!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>By singing along with the words of David's Psalms, the Gentile nations within the eretz (:1) would be praising His Name. David perceived that the offering God really wanted was not so much animals slain upon the altar in Zion, as the sacrifice of praise. David had learned this from his own experience of sinning concerning Uriah and Bathsheba. Unable to offer any sacrifice to atone for what he had done, he concluded that the sacrifice required was a humble heart.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Tell God, How awesome are Your deeds! Through the greatness of Your power, Your enemies submit themselves to You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Here David is as it were teaching the Gentiles how to pray to God in praise, putting words in their mouths. The submission of God's former enemies was therefore not forced upon them by God, but was rather a voluntary submission in awe at His power and works, especially His fearsome deeds of judgment upon sinners (s:w. <a href='B:230 64:9'>Psa 64:9</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>All the earth will worship You, and will sing to You; they will sing to Your name. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm imagines that David's invitation to the Gentiles within the eretz to praise God will be positively responded to (:1). They would appreciate God's Name, His essential character and purpose.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Come and see God’s deeds-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> awesome work on behalf of the children of men-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>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 66:6'>Psa 66:6</a>). He praises God for saving 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, inviting us to play "Bible television" with the text. We are to go and see the Red Sea all over again:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He turned the sea into dry land, they went through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in Him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalms so often encourage Israelites to feel as if they personally had been through the Red Sea experience. Generation would tell to generation the Passover story, and would also sing of God’s greatness as Israel did in Exodus 15 (<a href='B:230 145:5-7'>Psa 145:5-7</a>). Hence: “He turned the sea into dry land</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>there let us (AV: did we) rejoice in him” (<a href='B:230 66:6'>Psa 66:6</a> RVmg:). We too are enabled by Scripture to feel as if we were there, and to rejoice in what God did for us there. This of course depends upon our sense of solidarity with God’s people over time, as well as over space:&nbsp;The message here has special appropriacy to the exiles, who were encouraged to make a similar exodus to the promised land.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He rules by His might forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that God has not only been occasionally active by His might in history, such as at the Red Sea (:6). His saving activity is constant and not occasional.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>His eyes watch the nations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Very relevant to the exiles. God's Angelic "eyes" watch and guide the nations as part of His continual activity towards the salvation of His people. The Hebrew conception of an "eye" was that if it is watching you, then it is guiding and manipulating you (hence the concept of the "evil eye").</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t let the rebellious rise up against Him. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Rebellious" is indeed how Israel were in the wilderness (s:w:&nbsp; <a href='B:160 9:29'>Neh 9:29</a>; <a href='B:230 68:6'>Psa 68:6</a>; <a href='B:230 78:8'>Psa 78:8</a>). David is urging Israel to learn from this and not be rebellious but accept God's guidance of them towards the promised land; especially relevant to the exiles. But sadly they remained rebellious (s:w. <a href='B:290 65:2'>Isa 65:2</a>):&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise our God, you peoples! Make the sound of His praise heard-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David invites the Gentiles to praise "our God", Yahweh of Israel, and in turn to spread the knowledge of Him to others.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>who preserves our life among the living, and doesn’t allow our feet to be moved-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God's preservation of Israel was by grace, and was intended to be a witness to the nations amongst whom they had been scattered. For the context is of witness to the Gentiles (:8). God had allowed the feet of His people to be moved out of their land, but the intention was that this was to be temporary, and their return would be a witness to the Gentiles amongst whom they lived- leading them to join in and also come to Zion in penitence and faith. And then He would not again allow their feet to be moved from their land (s:w. <a href='B:230 121:3'>Psa 121:3</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>These are the intended feelings of the exiles upon restoration, perceiving their captivity as a time of refining and "testing", just as the fathers were tested by Joseph / Jesus (s:w. <a href='B:10 42:15-16'>Gen 42:15-16</a>). But the exiles failed to be refined as intended (<a href='B:290 1:25'>Isa 1:25</a>), and it must be repeated (s:w. <a href='B:450 13:9'>Zec 13:9</a>):&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You brought us into prison, You laid a burden on our backs-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The imagery of the exile as a prison from which the exiles could be "brought out" is often used in later Isaiah. But most refused that redemption, and preferred to remain in Babylon. The burden laid on their backs is describing their exile in the language of the abuse in Egypt. But their experience there was nowhere near as bad, and the book of Esther reveals the Jews as wealthy and prosperous there.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but You brought us to the place of abundance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is indeed what happened when Israel were brought out of Egypt, passing through the fire and water of the pillars of cloud and fire leading them. But the exiles for the most part declined this great salvation offered. Instead of men riding over their heads they could have had God's cherubic chariot doing so (s:w. <a href='B:230 68:4'>Psa 68:4</a>; <a href='B:230 68:33'>Psa 68:33</a>; <a href='B:420 3:8'>Hab 3:8</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will come into Your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David desired to offer sacrifice in the sanctuary because of some great deliverance received. This is therefore reworked, under inspiration, with relevance to the time when the temple was built. The restored exiles ought to have vowed to offer sacrifice there in thanksgiving for their deliverance, but the record of the restoration indicates that they did so at best only half heartedly.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>which my lips promised and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had apparently promised that if he was preserved, he would go to the sanctuary and offer sacrifice, and he was eager to do thIsa. His time of "distress" or AV "trouble" therefore looks ahead to the time of Jacob's trouble in the last days.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will offer to You burnt offerings of fat animals, with the offering of rams, I will offer bulls with goats. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Whenever this Psalm was originally written, it was presumably before David had come to the conclusion that God doesn't want animal sacrifice as much as He desires the sacrifice of a broken heart (<a href='B:230 51:17'>Psa 51:17</a>). Israel unfortunately didn't learn that lesson; for the few exiles who did return did so without contrite hearts, and offered merely tokenistic sacrifices. Or perhaps, if this Psalm is written after the Bathsheba issues (as suggested on :16), David is slipping back from his earlier understanding that God didn't really want sacrifice.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Come and hear, all you who fear God; I will declare what He has done for my soul-</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. David's desire to declare what had been done for his "soul" was not simply the message of forgiveness; rather it was of spiritual and psychological restoration through the work of the Holy Spirit (<a href='B:230 23:3'>Psa 23:3</a>; <a href='B:230 51:12'>Psa 51:12</a>). The intention was that the exiles would follow his path of repentance toward such restoration of their soul.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I cried to Him with my mouth. He was extolled with my tongue-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that David prayed for help and at the same time praised God for already answering him, such was his faith. Hence GNB "I cried to him for help; I praised him with songs".</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> This appears self righteous. For apart from the Lord Jesus, there is no heart in which there has been no cherishing of sin. In the matter of Bathsheba, David is set up as the parade example of a man who lusted in his heart, and then performed the fantasized sin. And yet here he predicates God's answer to his prayer as being on the basis of his spotless heart. He fails to perceive that his deliverance or salvation was by grace. This raises the question as to whether this Psalm originated before or after the sin with Bathsheba. If after (see on :16), then again we wonder as to the extent of his repentance; he apparently failed to maintain the intensity of his grasp of grace and his own sinfulness. And we all have that same tendency.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But most certainly, God has listened. He has heard the voice of my prayer-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As discussed on :18, David wrongly predicates God's listening to his voice upon his apparently spotless heart (:18). We can note that he speaks of the voice of his prayer, as if within verbalized prayer there is an essence of our spirit which is the true voice of the prayer, and God hears thIsa. Therefore it is wrong to think that we cannot pray well or effectively because we aren't good at verbalizing.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Psalm, A song-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to have initially been a thanksgiving song for a good harvest, but it clearly has been developed to understand the harvest as the spiritual harvest of Gentiles for God's Kingdom, with God's blessing of Israel by grace leading to Gentiles being converted to the God of Israel.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause His face to shine on us. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Heb. 'shine with us', as if God's joy is now that of His people. Blessing is often understood as forgiveness; this was the "mercy" implicit in the promises to Abraham and David. The shining of God's face with His people suggests restoration of fellowship and loving acceptance of them by grace. And this was what led to the harvest now to be celebrated in the Psalm.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion is clearly to the High Priestly blessing of the people in <a href='B:40 6:24-25'>Num 6:24-25</a>. But that blessing was to be shared with all the Gentiles. This is the same idea with which Psalms 68 begins, supporting the suggestion that the Psalms are often paired. This Psalms 67 would thus be an introduction to Psalms 68.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>That Your way may be known on earth, and Your salvation among all nations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God's grace in forgiving Israel (:1) was to reveal His way to the rest of the nations in the eretz, and serve as an advertisement for the fact that Yahweh is a God who saves; a principle brought to final articulation in the person of the Lord Jesus, Yehoshua, Yah's salvation. This was based upon the experience of David, who wished to advertise to the world his forgiveness and experience of God's grace after his sin. The idea was that the exiles would follow his pattern of repentance and his path to restoration. They didn't, but finally they will, at the last day.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>let the peoples praise You, God. Let all the peoples praise You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may be an invitation for the "peoples" of the eretz to praise Israel's God for His characteristic salvation and mercy (:1,2). "Let" can as well be translated "May::.". Although "let" might suggest David was asking that Yahweh extend His saving plan to the Gentiles even at that stage.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples with equity, and govern the nations on earth. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The vision was of God's kingdom or governance being over all the nations of the eretz / earth; and because of their acceptance of this, they would be glad. The justice of His judgments would be a cause for joy. This vision of kingdom or empire building was totally opposite to that understood at the time, where nations were militarily and economically dominated and forced into submission. Yahweh's Kingdom would extend by the choice of the subjected peoples, who would be awed by God's grace to Israel, who would become the parade example of what it meant to have Yahweh as King.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let the peoples praise You, God. Let all the peoples praise You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Let" might suggest David was asking that Yahweh extend His saving plan to the Gentiles even at that stage. But David was well ahead of his time in this desire. For Israel failed to be the example of God's kingship over a people, and the Gentiles therefore weren't encouraged to repent. We note the emphasis upon "all the peoples"- including their recent abusers, those whom Israel might consider beyond God's saving purpose.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The earth has yielded its increase. God, even our own God, will bless us-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The God of Israel would bless "us", Israel, with great harvests, and this would be a visible testament to His grace toward them. But the restored exiles experienced failed harvests; because they didn't repent. Perhaps "God" rather than "Yahweh" is used at this point because this would be the perspective of the observing Gentiles.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A song-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to be a song sung as the Israelites went out to battle. They took courage from God's previous marchings forth to victory, both from Egypt and then through Canaan; and the spirit of those victories was to be repeated, and come to ultimate term in the victory of the Lord Jesus and the establishment of His Kingdom upon earth.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let God arise! Let His enemies be scattered! Let them who hate Him also flee before Him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion is clearly to the High Priestly blessing of the people in <a href='B:40 6:24-25'>Num 6:24-25</a>, given whenever they began their onward journey to the promised land. This was how <a href='B:230 67:1'>Psa 67:1</a> begins, but the point is made in that Psalm that the blessing was to be shared with all the Gentiles. This is the same idea with which Psalms 68 begins, supporting the suggestion that the Psalms are often paired. Psalms 67 would thus be an introduction to Psalms 68.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God sees those who love the world as hating Him. Likewise the Bible speaks of the world as being sinful and actively hating God, whereas to human eyes the world is for the most part ignorant. Thus the Canaanite nations did not know much about the God of Israel, and yet they are described as actively hating Him (<a href='B:40 10:35'>Num 10:35</a> NIV; <a href='B:230 68:1'>Psa 68:1</a>). </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the language used by David of the final judgment (<a href='B:230 1:4'>Psa 1:4</a>; <a href='B:230 112:10'>Psa 112:10</a>) but he sees in every victory of God's people a foretaste of the final victory. It was this kind of victory which could have been granted to the exiles over Babylon (s:w. <a href='B:290 41:2'>Isa 41:2</a>)- had they desired to really leave and restore the Kingdom. But they didn't, and so this kind of victory over the nations surrounding Zion will be finally given to the Lord Jesus at the last day (s:w. <a href='B:400 1:4'>Mic 1:4</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But let the righteous be glad, may they rejoice before God; yes, let them rejoice with gladness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The conflicts between Israel and other nations are seen by David as a struggle between the righteous and the "wicked" (:2). But Israel themselves were never totally righteous; the dichotomy is over simplistic and even self-righteous. But it will ultimately be this way when the Lord Jesus returns.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing to God! Sing praises to His name! Extol Him who rides on the clouds: to Yah, His name! Rejoice before Him!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God "rode upon the heavens" to save Israel from Egypt and the Egyptians (s:w. <a href='B:50 33:26'>Deu 33:26</a>; <a href='B:420 3:8'>Hab 3:8</a>). David felt this was how God had delivered him personally (s:w. <a href='B:230 18:10'>Psa 18:10</a>). The allusion is clearly to the cherubim, the chariots upon which God rode. In the context of the exiles, God was ready to ride forth upon the cherubim which Ezekiel had seen in vision in Babylon by the Chebar river. But Israel would not.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The exiles were those who had been left as fatherless and widows in the destruction of Jerusalem (s:w. <a href='B:310 5:3'>Lam 5:3</a>), because they had despised the fatherless (<a href='B:330 22:7'>Eze 22:7</a>). But God was prepared to arise and deliver the fatherless. But the reality was that they precluded this potential operation of God by preferring to remain in Babylon:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion is to how Israel in Egypt were saved through uniting in family units around the Passover lamb. Those without families were set together with families, and were delivered as families. And God was willing to repeat the Exodus deliverance for the captives in Babylon / Persia. See on <a href='B:230 107:41'>Psa 107:41</a>.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We forsake all human relationships to follow the Lord Jesus (<a href='B:470 19:27-29'>Mat 19:27-29</a>). And He promises to compensate for this even in this life. But it depends to what extent we are willing to accept and perceive it. Through meaningful fellowship with our brethren we will find those relationships which we have given up compensated for, even if we aren’t physically close to our brethren. To be set in a new family is paralleled with being brought out from slavery. Part of the process of our redemption is that we are set in a new ecclesial family. The implication of Psalms 68 could be that it was in these family groups that they travelled through the wilderness. The N:C:V. reads: “God is in his holy Temple. He is a father to orphans, and he defends the widows. God gives the lonely a home. He leads prisoners out with joy::.". The very house / family of God becomes the house / family of the lonely. Hence the ecclesia is the house of God (<a href='B:530 3:16'>1Co 3:16</a>). We find true family in the new family of God.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness::. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As God went before the people in the pillars of fire and cloud, so He would lead His people to victory again. And the particular reference was to the possibility of delivering the exiles from captivity and leading them through the wilderness, perhaps also led by Angels, to the promised land.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> at the presence of God, the God of Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Earthquake and rain was sent at the time of the exodus. This was in fact to soften up Canaan for the arrival of the Israelites; they could have entered a land well watered by these rains, with harvest ready to be picked (:9). But because of their rebellion, this great potential didn't come about; because they in their hearts turned back to Egypt. And so it was with the exiles.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed Your inheritance when it was weary-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :8, this rain was to prepare Canaan to be full of fruit by the time the Israelites arrived there. They left at Passover, and were intended to arrive in Canaan at harvest time. But such great potentials are wasted all the time by the desire to remain in Egypt / Babylon.</p>


text:
<h2>Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared Your goodness for the poor-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This 'preparation' is as explained on :8,9. The language of inheritance (e:g. <a href='B:670 1:4'>1Pe 1:4</a>) and preparation of reward (<a href='B:470 25:34'>Mat 25:34</a>; <a href='B:500 14:1'>Joh 14:1</a>) in the NT is alluding to the OT background of the land being prepared by the Angels for Israel to inherit (<a href='B:20 15:17'>Exo 15:17</a> Heb:; 23:20; <a href='B:230 68:9-10'>Psa 68:9-10</a> Heb:) . We must be careful not to think that our promised inheritance is only eternal life; it is something being personally prepared for each of us. The language of preparation seems inappropriate if our reward is only eternal life.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Lord announced the word; the women who proclaimed it are a great company-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is the implication that a great number of Angels- perhaps the guardian Angels of each of the Israelites- were with them too: "great was the company of those that published it::. even thousands of Angels" (<a href='B:230 68:11'>Psa 68:11</a> AV). This "great company" is defined in :17 as "the chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels". These Angels were the cherubic chariots which are envisaged as going out with the Israelites to every battle. The word published was the word concerning Israel leaving Egypt and overcoming every obstacle that lay in the way to entering and possessing the promised land. The same promise is to each of us in our journey from the Red Sea of baptism to the Kingdom (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>If we prefer the rendering "the women::.", then the reference is to Miriam and the women of Israel proclaiming God's word of deliverance as already fulfilled. And it was women who first proclaimed the Lord's resurrection, the surmounting of all that may appear to lie in our way towards possession of the Kingdom.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Kings of armies flee! They flee! The women who wait at home divide the spoil-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We note the emphasis upon the women (:11). The Canaanites did indeed flee, but Israel failed to believe that. They preferred to think that the Canaanites were invincible, and to return to Egyptian bondage. It was the same in principle at the restoration. Enemies would turn their backs and flee only if Israel were faithful to the covenant.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>while you men sleep among the campfires-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to allude to the rebuke of Deborah that the men of Israel were cowards and not using the great Divine potential for victory (<a href='B:70 5:16'>Jdg 5:16</a>). This would fit the context of the praise of women at this time (:11,12).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Israel is the turtle dove (<a href='B:230 74:19'>Psa 74:19</a>). Perhaps this is an allusion to some poem known at the time, lamenting the glory which could have been Israel's but was wasted potential. In which case this battle cry is urging the male warriors to not be like their historical counterparts and fail to use all the Divine potential for victory. Or the idea may be to rebuke a love of silver and gold rather than arising and fighting to possess the land- a rebuke appropriate to the exiles who preferred the wealth of Babylon.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The scattered kings in the land ("her") would drop their weapons and armour and flee (:12). With the sun shining off all those items, it would appear like the snow which fell on Salmon, a hill near Shechem (<a href='B:70 9:48'>Jdg 9:48</a>), the central point in the land. Or perhaps there is reference to a snowstorm assisting the rout of enemies.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains, the mountains of Bashan are rugged-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "The mountain of God is a rich mountain; a swelling mountain, a rich mountain". This would refer to Zion (as in :16), which was to be elevated as the central focus of God's Kingdom. "Mountains" would then be read as an intensive plural for the one great mountain. The one great mountain of Bashan, if we retain that reading, would be Hermon.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm now moves in focus away from being a battle song as the troops marched out (:1) to describing the Kingdom of God to be restored in Israel. For this was to be the final outcome of all Israel's battles. Yahweh will dwell there eternally only when the Kingdom is reestablished in Israel. The surrounding hills around Zion represent therefore the nations surrounding Israel. They were not to be envious, but rather to accept Israel's God enthroned in Zion (:30,31).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the sanctuary-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :11, the huge Angelic activity of God at the time of the exodus could have been replicated for the exiles, and for Israel in any of their conflicts. There is the implication that God would again gather Israel through those Angels to make another covenant with them. Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 20 offered a new covenant to the exiles, seeing they had broken the old covenant. But they refused it. These things were all reapplied and rescheduled. For the huge cherubic activity of God now works to bring individuals of all nations to a point, as at Sinai, where delivered from Egypt they can accept the new covenant.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have ascended on high, You have led away captives in your victory train, You have received gifts to distribute among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>These words are quoted specifically about the victory of the Lord Jesus on the cross, His ascension to Heaven and gift of the Holy Spirit (<a href='B:560 4:8'>Eph 4:8</a>). As noted on :17, the exiles generally refused the scenario made possible for them. And yet the offer of a new covenant remains and has been extended to individuals of all nations, brought through the Red Sea of baptism to a point (cp. Sinai, :17) where they can enter covenant.</p><h2>Israel were slaves in Egypt, and then after the Red Sea baptism became slaves of God. <a href='B:230 68:18'>Psa 68:18</a> pictures them as a train of captives being led out of Egypt, merging into the image of a train of a captivity led into a different captivity. Romans 6 powerfully brings home the point: we were slaves of sin, but now are become slaves of righteousness. The gifts of the Spirit which were given were initially revealed in a miraculous form, but the essential purpose of the gift of the Spirit is so that God might dwell among us, even in the hearts of the formerly rebellious. And this is just as much His activity today as ever before.</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "Blessed be the Lord God, blessed be the Lord daily; and the God of our salvation shall prosper us". Israel's deliverance and salvation from Egypt become the spiritual experience of all those saved in Christ. "Burdens" were associated with the slavery in Egypt; it was as if God was with them in that slavery, carrying their burdens with them. And this would have had special relevance to the exiles in Babylon and Assyria.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God is to us a God of deliverance; to Yahweh the Lord belongs escape from death-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Remember that this was initially a battle song as troops began to march to war (see on :1). The comfort was that God would save them from death, because that is the lead characteristic of Yahweh. And that would be ultimately true- even if they died in battle, the Israelites had the unique hope of the resurrection of the body.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But God will strike through the head of His enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Thus would suggest that the Israelites were only marching to war against the impenitent who had refused God's calls to repent. The allusion is to the striking of the serpent upon the head (<a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a>), and Israel were to be as the seed of the woman bringing this about.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Lord said, I will bring you again from Bashan, I will bring you again from the depths of the sea-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to reference words of God unrecorded in the previous historical records. Or the idea may be that as God had saved Israel from Egypt through the Red Sea, so He would do so "again" in every struggle of the Israelites. And this will come ultimately true at the last day.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>that you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The taking of a portion or inheritance may allude to the conquest of Canaan, which the Israelite soldiers were to replicate every time they marched to battle (:1). These words were used by David of how God had wounded all his enemies under his feet (<a href='B:230 18:38'>Psa 18:38</a>) and he wished this to be the experience of all God's people. So often he sees his life as a pattern for God's people to follow.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They have seen Your processions, God, even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "they" may refer to God's enemies (:23), but it is hard to understand how they had seen the processions in the sanctuary. Perhaps the processions were victory parades after the victory, with the captive enemies seeing them in shame (see on :25). Or we may go with LXX "Thy goings, O God, have been seen; the goings of my God, the king, in the sanctuary". We note that David repeatedly calls God "my king" or "the king". He realized that he was only king on God's behalf, and all the desire of Israel for a human king had been a rejection of Yahweh.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The singers went before, the minstrels followed after in the midst of the ladies playing with tambourines, singing-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We note the repeated focus upon the role of women (see on :11,12). The reference to tambourines recalls Miriam and the women of Israel rejoicing at the salvation from Egypt. The processions in the sanctuary of :24 were therefore envisaged as processions of praise for victories granted in the spirit of that over Egypt.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Bless God in the congregations, even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This could be an invitation to the Gentiles to praise God along with the Israelites. This is a common theme of David. The "congregations" may be an intensive plural for the one great congregation of Israel. David often talks of how he wishes the congregation to praise God. It is the struggle of every spiritually minded and righteous man to humble himself to accept he is only part of a far wider congregation, comprised of believers who may frankly be less spiritually minded than himself (<a href='B:230 26:12'>Psa 26:12</a>; <a href='B:230 35:18'>Psa 35:18</a>; <a href='B:230 68:26'>Psa 68:26</a>). David and the Lord Jesus are parade examples of achieving this sense. LXX "Praise God in the congregations, the Lord from the fountains of Israel".</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is little Benjamin, their ruler, the princes of Judah, their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that the two and ten tribe kingdoms were represented together. LXX "There is Benjamin the younger one in ecstasy, the princes of Juda their rulers, the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthali". Perhaps Zebulun and Naphtali were chosen because they were commended for their bravery at the time of Deborah (<a href='B:70 5:18'>Jdg 5:18</a>), and she has been in view in :13, in her criticizing of the other tribes for not being as Zebulun and Naphtali. Or in the context of the exiles, it could be that they are mentioned as the areas which suffered most from the invaders (<a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>). But they are envisaged here in glory in Zion.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which You have done for us-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There may be an allusion here to 'Hezekiah', strengthened by Yah.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Because of Your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bring presents to You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Clearly this was rewritten at some point after David, or maybe David was looking forward to the temple which Solomon would build. In this case, his vision for that temple was as a focal point for the Gentiles to come to and learn of Yahweh. Instead it became filled with their paganic images.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples. Being humbled, may they bring tribute of bars of silver. Scatter the nations that delight in war-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The vision was that entity which had abused God's people, be it Babylon, Assyria or Egypt, would be humbled and come to Zion in repentance with tribute to Yahweh; and those who refused to repent would be scattered in condemnation. But LXX has "Rebuke the wild beasts of the reed: let the crowd of bulls with the heifers of the nations be rebuked, so that they who have been proved with silver may not be shut out: scatter thou the nations that wish for wars". Those refined as silver refer to the exiles after their spiritual education in Babylon; but the truth was that they did not respond as intended, and remained not purified.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>What began as a battle song ends up with a vision of the Gentile enemies accepting the God of Israel. This was the intended outcome of the campaign, rather than mere punishment for its own sake.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord! Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to be encouragement to the Gentile enemies to praise Israel's God. This was ever David's vision, as it is God's.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>To Him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, He utters His voice, a mighty voice-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "Sing to God that rides on the heaven of heaven, eastward: lo, he will utter a mighty sound with his voice". The reference to "eastward" would allude to the east wind which destroyed the Egyptians, associated with the clouds upon which the cherubim as it were rode. The mighty voice of God may be that which is verbalized in :34; it is an appeal for repentance and acceptance of Yahweh. "Which are of old" suggests that how God has acted in history, He will do again; a major theme of this Psalm.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Israel, His strength is in the skies-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is an appeal for the enemies to repent; to perceive that He is king over Israel, they are His Kingdom; and the Gentile peoples can likewise become part of that Kingdom. For that was ever God's intention.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. To the tune of Lilies. By David-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Paul confirms this Davidic authorship (<a href='B:520 11:9'>Rom 11:9</a>). But the Psalm seems so relevant to Jeremiah sinking in the mud. Perhaps David's Psalm was edited under inspiration to be relevant to Jeremiah, or was prayed by him and then rewritten by him. It is clearly appropriate to the Lord's crucifixion and is cited several times about Him in the New Testament. The parallels with Psalms 22 mean that it likely has the same original context- in the sufferings experienced by David as a result of his sin with Bathsheba. The Lord Jesus on the cross was so identified with sinners that although personally innocent, He fully entered into the feelings of condemned sinners. And therefore the words and thoughts of David when at this point are appropriated to Him on the cross.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David was at a point where he felt death was imminent. But as suggested above, it could well be that the Psalm was rewritten by Jeremiah on reflection at his experiences in the dungeon.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the picture of a man treading water with the last of his strength as he faces death by drowning. The exact historical reference within David's life isn't clear. It could be, as suggested on :1, that his general sense of being overcome by troubles has been developed by Jeremiah.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail, looking for my God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea seems to be that he has put his last energy into appealing for God's salvation, but this had not been forthcoming. The Lord's desire for a drink because "I thirst" was therefore only so that He could continue praying. <a href='B:230 119:82'>Psa 119:82</a> has the same idea, in that David's eyes failed for looking for the fulfilment of God's word that he would become king and his kingdom be established. Perhaps that was the original reference here, as David faced the loss of his kingdom to usurpers like Absalom and Adonijah.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :8. The continued emphasis in David's psalms upon "without cause" surely reflects a self righteousness (<a href='B:230 35:19'>Psa 35:19</a>; <a href='B:230 69:4'>Psa 69:4</a>; <a href='B:230 109:3'>Psa 109:3</a>; <a href='B:230 119:161'>Psa 119:161</a>), and a refusal to accept that what happened to him was a result of his sin with Bathsheba- as Nathan had explained. For David's righteousness was only impressive relative to the wickedness of his enemies; before God, it was filthy rags. It was true that Saul persecuted David "without cause" (s:w. <a href='B:90 19:5'>1Sa 19:5</a>), but the experience of "without cause" persecution can lead us to an inappropriate self-righteousness. This is what happened to Job, who also suffered "without cause" (s:w. <a href='B:220 2:3'>Job 2:3</a>), and had to be convicted of self-righteousness at the end of the story. And it seems this happened to David. David himself intended to shed blood "without cause" and was only saved from it by grace (s:w. <a href='B:90 25:31'>1Sa 25:31</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the context of the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba, David says that his sins and their consequences are "more than the hairs of my head" (<a href='B:230 40:12'>Psa 40:12</a>). But he uses the same phrase in saying that his "without a cause" enemies are "more than the hairs of my head" (<a href='B:230 69:4'>Psa 69:4</a>). But again we note that he considers those consequences of his sin to be "without cause", and we wonder at the depth of his repentance and sense of culpability.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is inevitable that to someone of the Lord’s intellectual ability as the Son of God, to a man with His sense of justice and with His knowledge of the Jews and their Law, everything within Him would have cried out at the protracted injustices of His trials. He had the strong sense within Him at this time that He was hated without cause, that the Jews were "mine enemies wrongfully" (<a href='B:230 69:4'>Psa 69:4</a>). I suggested on Psalms 22 that this struggle with injustice and the apparent inconsistency of God was the Lord's final struggle in the moments before He died, and was required to bring Him to the acme of humility required for His final moment of death (Php_2:7-10). However, on the level of David, he was wrong to consider that it was somehow unfair that he was suffering the results of his sin with Bathsheba; for such troubles were exactly what Nathan had predicted would happen.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have to restore what I didn’t take away-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Take away" is the term used for stolen or lost goods which were to be restored. Perhaps there is reference to some false accusation against David which he felt aggrieved about. The allusion is to Jacob having to make good for the lost cattle of Laban during his time of exile, which David often looked to as representative of his experiences. But I suggested on :1 that this Psalm may have been rewritten by Jeremiah, so maybe there was some such incident in his life, perhaps concerning the property be redeemed. But these possible incidents are all typical of the way the Lord Jesus restored salvation and ultimately the garden of Eden, suffering in order to restore that which He took not away, and epitomized in the way He restored the ear of Malchus just before His death. That incident was perhaps providentially used by the Father to prepare His Son for His death to restore that which He had not taken away.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, You know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I noted on :4 that David was failing to accept the consequences of his sins with Bathsheba and Uriah. But true to our own experience, we can in one breath struggle to accept consequences of sin, minimizing what we did long ago- and yet almost in the same breath, accept full responsibility for them. But again, we may well enquire whether "foolishness" is not rather a mild term for what he had done (also used in <a href='B:230 38:5'>Psa 38:5</a>); surely "wickedness" would have been more appropriate. "Foolishness" is often used in Proverbs to refer to unwisdom and even silliness. But what David did surely requires more extreme language. We note that David has been quick to use a wide range of harsh adjectives and ideas in describing the wickedness of others like Saul who had tried to murder the innocent. And David had actually done so.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Why (oh why) hast Thou forsaken me?" is surely the Lord Jesus searching His conscience with desperate intensity, finding nothing wrong, and crying to God to show Him where He had failed, why the Father had forsaken Him. It may be that initially He assumed He had sinned (<a href='B:230 69:5'>Psa 69:5</a>), going through the self-doubt which David went through at the time of Absalom's rebellion (<a href='B:230 3:2'>Psa 3:2</a>). As David had felt then that God had cast him off, even though "my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail", so the Lord felt (<a href='B:230 89:33'>Psa 89:33</a>; <a href='B:230 89:38'>Psa 89:38</a>). But then with an unsurpassedly rigorous self-examination, He came to know that He really hadn't. This means that once over the crisis, our Lord died with a purity of conscience known by no other being, with a profound sense of His own totality of righteousness. Again, this enables us to better enter into the intensity of "It is finished".</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t let those who wait for You be shamed on my account, Lord Yahweh of Armies. Don’t let those who seek You be brought to dishonour through me, God of Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Wait" is better "hope". Perhaps David has in view those who were hoping for the fuller establishment of God's Kingdom on earth under his kingship, which hope appeared to be dashed whilst he was now exiled during the rebellion of Adonijah or Absalom. David had supporters at the time of Absalom's rebellion, who remained in Jerusalem pretending to be on Absalom's side, but working to bring down his coup. And David here prays for them.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Because for Your sake I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But David's shame was surely because of his own sake, and not for God's sake. He always seems to struggle in taking full responsibility for the consequences of his sins. But it could be argued that he means that his reproach was because his enemies were jealous of his spirituality, and therefore they reproached him for the sake of his relationship with God.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Absalom's rebellion had been orchestrated over many years, and it seems he got David's own brothers onside with him. Ahithophel was Bathsheba's grandfather and it seems he too had fomented opposition to David amongst his own family. But suffering consequences of his sin within his own family was exactly what Nathan had said would happen; and now it happens, David appears to rail against it. But the human pain of it all must not be thereby minimized. 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 (<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>). All this was after the pattern of Job, to whom David here alludes (see on <a href='B:220 19:12-14'>Job 19:12-14</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The essence of all this happened to the Lord Jesus, whose brothers initially did not believe in Him. "Stranger" implies a Gentile. The Lord Jesus was accused of being the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier. The way He compared Himself to a Samaritan, half Jew and half Gentile, shows that especially on the cross, this is how He felt. He was mindful of both Jewish and Gentile aspects of His future body as He died. Mary was a woman, a real mother, and her special love for Jesus would have been noticed by the others. This probably had something to do with the fact that all her other children had rejected Jesus as a "stranger", i:e. a Gentile; perhaps they too believed that this Jesus was the result of mum's early fling with a passing Roman soldier.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In Gethsemane the Lord spoke of drinking the cup of His final death and suffering. But earlier He had spoken in the present tense: “the cup that I drink of::. the baptism that I am baptized with" (<a href='B:480 10:38'>Mar 10:38</a>). The drinking of the cup of death was ongoing. Likewise there are several verses in Psalms 22, 69 which are evidently relevant to both the Lord's life and also His final hours on the cross. "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" is in the context of the cross, but is applied to an earlier period of the Lord's life (<a href='B:230 69:9'>Psa 69:9</a> cp. <a href='B:500 2:17'>Joh 2:17</a>). "I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children" is another example (<a href='B:230 69:8'>Psa 69:8</a>); it is a prophecy about the final sufferings of the Lord in crucifixion, and yet it is elsewhere quoted about the experiences of His ministry. And “they hated me without a cause" (<a href='B:230 69:4'>Psa 69:4</a>) was true throughout the Lord’s life (<a href='B:500 15:25'>Joh 15:25</a>) as well as particularly in His death.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the zeal of Your house consumes me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :8. On a human level, David seems to have become obsessed with preparing for the physical building of the temple in his old age. He truly commented: " The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (<a href='B:230 69:9'>Psa 69:9</a>). The RV margin of <a href='B:130 28:12'>1Ch 28:12</a> makes us wonder whether the dimensions of the temple were in fact made up within David’s own mind: “David gave to Solomon his son the pattern</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> the pattern that he had in his spirit&nbsp; [AV “by the spirit”] for the</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> house of the Lord”. But here David cites his obsession with building a temple as a kind of reason for considering that his suffering the consequence of sin was unreasonable. But the New Testament reapplies these words to the Lord's zeal for cleansing the temple.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Law taught that a man had to bring a burnt offering, of his own voluntary will, in symbol of his own dedication to his God. It was to be consumed by the flames of the Christ-altar, until all that was left was a pile of ashes. And he was to see in this a parable of his own life; totally consumed in service, until at the end, we're left a pile of ashes. We are as water spilt upon the ground that cannot be gathered again. The Man we follow is the supreme example. He knew himself that "the zeal of Your house consumes me"; the same Hebrew word is used as in <a href='B:30 6:10'>Lev 6:10</a>: "take up the ashes which the fire has consumed".</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea of deferral of fulfilment is common enough in Scripture once you look for it. “The wrath of the Lord was upon Judah” in Hezekiah’s time; but he made a covenant with God and cleansed the temple “that his fierce wrath may turn away from us” (<a href='B:140 29:8'>2Ch 29:8</a>; <a href='B:140 29:10'>2Ch 29:10</a>). But this day of the Lord’s wrath was deferred until 90 years later (<a href='B:430 1:18'>Zep 1:18</a>; <a href='B:430 2:2'>Zep 2:2</a>). Hezekiah’s zealous cleansing of the temple (<a href='B:140 29:12-16'>2Ch 29:12-16</a>) cannot fail to have been one application of <a href='B:230 69:9'>Psa 69:9</a> “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up”- and yet these words are applied to the Lord’s cleansing of the temple and His death in the first century. Could it not be that the Lord Jesus cleansed the temple fully understanding these things, and seeking to defer God’s wrath upon Judah, to give them a chance to repent? And it was delayed- in that there was no immediate wrath from Heaven against the Jews for murdering the Son of God. And yet the days were shortened as well as deferred for the elect’s sake. An amazing Father somehow builds all these various factors into His time periods. Truly everything happens in our lives at the ‘right’ time!</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Scriptures which were relevant to Christ are actually directly applicable to us too, who are in Christ. Thus Paul reasons: "Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written (he quotes <a href='B:230 69:9'>Psa 69:9</a>), The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning:::." (<a href='B:520 15:3-4'>Rom 15:3-4</a>). So here Paul points out a well known Messianic prophesy, applies it to Christ, and then says that it was written for us. This is exactly Peter's point, when he says that the words which were spoken to Christ at the transfiguration were also for our benefit, and that the word of prophecy which we have is to be treated in the same manner as if we had been cowering with Peter on the mount, hearing the words which Moses and Elijah spoke to Jesus. &nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggested on :7 that the subconscious reason for David's reproach was his relationship with God. And this was certainly true for the Lord Jesus whom he typified, as it was true for Jeremiah (see on :1). David had earlier observed that when Saul was sick he had wept and fasted for him (<a href='B:230 35:13'>Psa 35:13</a>), and he did so again at Saul's death; and perhaps this was being politically used against him.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the context of the Lord Jesus, we see this fulfilled in the continual usage of the words "Jesus" and "Christ" as bywords to this day. Becoming a byword was the punishment for breaking the covenant (s:w. <a href='B:50 28:37'>Deu 28:37</a>). The Lord Jesus was therefore suffering as representative of a sinful, condemned Israel. The exiles ought to have found comfort in these prophecies. On the level of David, he was mocked as one suffering for breaking the covenant. When in fact it was quite the other way around.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Those who sit in the gate talk against me; I am the song of the drunkards-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is another allusion to Job, whom David continually sees as his pattern (see on <a href='B:220 19:12-14'>Job 19:12-14</a>). It was David's own son who stood in the gate talking against his own father (<a href='B:100 15:2-6'>2Sa 15:2-6</a>). This was the typical consequence of David's sin with Bathsheba which Nathan had predicted; and yet when it happened, David complains about it, as if still struggling to accept Nathan's words, and not focused enough upon the simple wonder of the fact he had been forgiven and his life preserved by God's amazing grace.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But as for me, my prayer is to You, Yahweh, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of Your grace, answer me in the truth of Your salvation-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the context, these are the thoughts of Christ on the cross. As He prayed on the cross, so we should arm ourselves with the same attitude of mind in prayer (cp. <a href='B:670 4:1'>1Pe 4:1</a>). These words are alluded to in <a href='B:540 6:2'>2Co 6:2</a>, where we are told to draw near to God (and encourage others to do so), because now is the accepted time and the day of our salvation. The crucified Lord reflected there that His prayer was offered to God "in an acceptable time". And yet this very passage is taken up in <a href='B:540 6:2'>2Co 6:2</a> concerning the necessary vigour of our crying to God for salvation. That the intensity of the Lord's prayerfulness and seeking of God on the cross should be held up as our pattern::. the very height of the ideal is wondrous.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This suggests a man at the very end of life, facing imminent death. I suggested on :1 that there is no particular time in David's life where this is recorded of him. Yet the words are so relevant to Jeremiah, who it seems reused this Psalm. Perhaps Jonah did likewise, for death in "the deep waters" applied to him. And they were exactly relevant to the Lord Jesus on the cross. These words are alluded to in <a href='B:230 18:17'>Psa 18:17</a>, where at the end of his life David reflects that he has been delivered from those who hated him (s:w:). At the time, he wept bitterly for Absalom's death; but in maturity he realized that this was in fact an answer to his prayers.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The reference may be to Ahithophel's plan to swallow up David at the time of Absalom's rebellion (<a href='B:100 17:12'>2Sa 17:12</a>; <a href='B:100 17:16'>2Sa 17:16</a> s:w:). David's prayer of <a href='B:230 35:25'>Psa 35:25</a>; <a href='B:230 69:15'>Psa 69:15</a>; <a href='B:230 124:3'>Psa 124:3</a> not to be swallowed up / destroyed was answered, but he was devastated at the answer- for it meant the death of his son Absalom. Again David has Job in mind, who had his 'brethren' arguing that he should be swallowed up / destroyed without cause (<a href='B:220 2:3'>Job 2:3</a> s:w:).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Answer me, Yahweh, for Your grace is good. According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, turn to me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Although earlier David has complained that he is suffering unfairly (see on :4), he again returns to his awareness that he can only be saved by grace; for he is indeed a sinner suffering the consequence of his sins. True to our own experience, we can in one breath struggle to accept consequences of sin, minimizing what we did long ago- and yet almost in the same breath, accept full responsibility for them (see on :5).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David feels that his suffering at the hands of Absalom and his group was because God was hiding His face. But this was not the case. He is failing to give due weight to the words of Nathan. He was to suffer these consequences for his sin, but that didn't mean God was hiding His face from him; for he was really and truly forgiven and restored before God. The exiles appear to have likewise struggled with the issue of consequence for sin. David had 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>). But it seems that in crisis he wondered whether he had in fact been forgiven.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Draw near to my soul, and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David often speaks of drawing near to God, and yet he invites God to draw near to him (<a href='B:230 69:18'>Psa 69:18</a>). Yet David also recognizes that God “is” near already (<a href='B:230 75:1'>Psa 75:1</a>). I take all this to mean that like us, David recognized that God “is” near, and yet wished God to make His presence real to him. Truly can we pray David’s prayers. So often, prayer is described as coming near to God (<a href='B:230 119:169'>Psa 119:169</a> etc:)- and yet God “is” near already. Prayer, therefore, is a way of making us realize the presence of the God who is always present. You are not alone, I am not alone; “For I am with you”. God is with us for us in His Son. Of course, we must draw near to Him (<a href='B:230 73:28'>Psa 73:28</a>); and yet He is already near, not far from every one of us (<a href='B:510 17:27'>Act 17:27</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And yet it could be argued that God had already forgiven David, ransoming and redeeming him. But he was left to suffer the consequences of those sins, and because of that, in crisis he starts to wonder whether he has indeed been forgiven. And we can do the same so easily. The consequence of sin is death, and we can squirm against this when we or others face it::. forgetting the wonder of the fact that we are indeed redeemed and ransomed from the power of the grave, although we must still take the consequences. The exiles likewise had to understand that they had been redeemed (s:w. <a href='B:230 74:2'>Psa 74:2</a>) but were suffering the consequence of sin. God was indeed their redeemer (<a href='B:290 41:14'>Isa 41:14</a>; <a href='B:290 43:1'>Isa 43:1</a> s:w:). At the very end of his life, David realized that he had in fact been redeemed (s:w. <a href='B:110 1:29'>1Ki 1:29</a>). He could give up his spirit to God in death, knowing that He was redeemed from the power of the grave (s:w. <a href='B:230 31:5'>Psa 31:5</a>; <a href='B:230 49:15'>Psa 49:15</a>). His sure hope in the resurrection of the body looked ahead to the attitude with which the Lord Jesus died.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonour; my adversaries are all before You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The tone of the Psalm begins to change from this point. This so often happens in the Psalms; David begins by praying desperately for help, and then within the same Psalm, becomes calmer, and ends up rejoicing. Perhaps there was some dramatic Divine revelation to him during the prayer. But rather I suggest that this is simply true to our spiritual experience in prayer; we too within the course of prayer become calmer, seeing God's hand, aware that He does know precisely all our situation, better than we do; and shall finally bring us to the great salvation of His eternal Kingdom. And thus we conclude the prayer in joy and peace before Him.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Lord didn't just passively enduring the polemics of the Pharisees; they were His chicks, He really wanted them under His wings (cp. Israel dwelling under the wings of the cherubim). We must ever remember this when we read the records of Him arguing with them and exposing their hypocrisy. He wasn't just throwing back their questions, playing the game and winning, just surviving from day to day with them. He was trying to gather them, and their rejection of His words really hurt Him. Their reproach broke His heart; He didn't just brazenly endure it as we might the ravings of a drunken man (<a href='B:230 69:20'>Psa 69:20</a>):&nbsp;David here alludes to Job's experiences (see on <a href='B:220 19:12-14'>Job 19:12-14</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The shame of the cross is a theme of the records. The reproach broke the Lord's heart (<a href='B:230 69:20'>Psa 69:20</a>). It could even be that He suffered a heart rupture, a literal broken heart, some hours prior to His death- hence when His side was pierced, blood flowed out- and corpses don’t usually bleed. It has been commented that severe emotional trauma is enough to cause such a rupture. He wasn't hard and impervious to it all. He knew who He was, and where He was going. To be treated as He was, was such an insult to the God of all grace. And He keenly sensed thIsa. <a href='B:650 12:2-3'>Heb 12:2-3</a> parallels the Lord's enduring of the cross with His enduring "such contradiction of sinners against Himself".</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is likely that the Lord was crucified naked, thereby sharing the shame of Adam's nakedness. The shame of the cross is stressed (<a href='B:650 11:26'>Heb 11:26</a>; <a href='B:650 12:2'>Heb 12:2</a>; <a href='B:230 31:17'>Psa 31:17</a>; <a href='B:230 69:6-7'>Psa 69:6-7</a>; <a href='B:230 69:12'>Psa 69:12</a>; <a href='B:230 69:19-20'>Psa 69:19-20</a>). And we are to share those sufferings. There must, therefore, be an open standing up for what we believe in the eyes of a hostile world. Preaching, in this sense, is for all of us. And if we dodge this, we put the Son of God to a naked shame; we re-crucify Him naked, we shame Him again (<a href='B:650 6:6'>Heb 6:6</a>). He was crucified naked, and the sun went in for three hours. He must have been cold, very cold (<a href='B:500 18:18'>Joh 18:18</a>). Artemidorus Daldianus (Oneirokritika 2:53) confirms that the Romans usually crucified victims naked. Melito of Sardis, writing in the 2nd century, writes of “his body naked and not even deemed worthy of a clothing that it might not be seen. Therefore the heavenly lights turned away and the day darkened in order that he might be hidden who was denuded upon the cross" (On the Pasch 97). The earliest portrayals of the crucified Jesus, on carved gems, feature Him naked.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"But there stood by the cross::." makes the connection between Mary and the clothes. It seems that initially, she wasn't there; He looked for comforters and found none (<a href='B:230 69:20'>Psa 69:20</a> - or does this imply that the oft mentioned spiritual difference between the Lord and His mother meant that He didn't find comfort in her? Or she only came to the cross later?). His lovers, friends and kinsmen stood far off from Him (<a href='B:230 38:11'>Psa 38:11</a>), perhaps in a literal sense, perhaps far away from understanding Him. If Mary wasn't initially at the cross, John's connection between the dividing of the clothes and her being there would suggest that she had made the clothes. In any case, the four women at the cross are surely set up against the four soldiers there- who gambled over the clothes. Perhaps the other women had also had some input into the Lord’s clothing.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They also gave me gall for my food; in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is hard to find an occasion in David's life which would have been relevant to thIsa. But I suggested on :1 that the Psalm was rewritten by Jeremiah. Perhaps they passed down gall and vinegar to him in the dungeon. But the Psalm clearly refers to the Lord Jesus, supremely. The Hebrew can stand the translation ‘poison’ (see RSV). Given the extended, agitated torture of crucifixion, there was a custom for close friends to get close enough to the cross to lift up a poisonous substance which the crucified would lick, and thereby die quickly. It is just possible that a friend (or even his mother?) or a sympathetic soldier did thIsa. Again, in this case it would seem that the Lord chose the highest level; our salvation would surely have been theologically achievable if He had taken it. But He chose to attain for us not only salvation, but “such great salvation" by always taking the highest level. He became obedient not only to death, but “even the death of the cross".</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let their table before them become a snare, may it become a retribution and a trap-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A "table" is literally that which was spread forth, and need not refer to a piece of wood with legs. The idea is that their table, in the sense of a piece of material unrolled and spread upon the ground, was to turn into an animal trap into which they themselves would fall. The verse is quoted from the LXX in <a href='B:520 11:9'>Rom 11:9</a> and applied to the Jews who refused to accept the Lord Jesus as Messiah and king. Those who treated David likewise represented the Jews of the first century. Thus again David at this point is understood as a type of the Lord Jesus.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see; may their backs be continually bent-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is quoted in <a href='B:520 11:10'>Rom 11:10</a> about the Jews who rejected the kingship of the Lord Jesus, whom David typified. This darkening of Jewish hearts / eyes has been spoken of in <a href='B:520 1:21'>Rom 1:21</a> (s:w:), and I have argued on Romans 1 that 'Jews' and 'Gentiles' refer specifically to the Jewish and Gentile Christian converts within the church at Rome- rather than to Jews and Gentiles in some generic, global sense. As noted on <a href='B:520 11:10'>Rom 11:10</a>, what is in view here is the stumbling of Jewish Christian believers out of the way, leading to their being cut off from the Christ-olive tree. '"Bend the back" uses the same word as just used in <a href='B:520 11:4'>Rom 11:4</a> for those who bowed the knee to Baal. They would be confirmed in their idolatry. And perhaps the reference is to how the Christian Jews who fell away from faith would eternally bow down at the last judgment (<a href='B:730 3:9'>Rev 3:9</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Pour out Your indignation on them; let the fierceness of Your anger overtake them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the language used about God's judgment upon the Gentiles (<a href='B:230 79:6'>Psa 79:6</a>; <a href='B:300 10:25'>Jer 10:25</a>). David often sees the apostate within Israel as no better than Gentiles. And yet when Absalom did die, David was heartbroken, even though it was the answer to prayers like thIsa. Being "overtaken" suggests being overtaken by military defeat, which is what happened to Absalom.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let their habitation be desolate, may no one dwell in their tents-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>These words are quoted about Judas in <a href='B:510 1:20'>Act 1:20</a>, who is clearly typified by Ahithophel, who was a main mover in Absalom's rebellion. The condemnation of Jewry for crucifying Christ in <a href='B:230 69:25'>Psa 69:25</a> ("let their habitation be desolate") is quoted in the singular about Judas in <a href='B:510 1:20'>Act 1:20</a>. What was true of Judas was also true of Israel in general; in the same way as the pronouns used about Judas merge from singular into plural in <a href='B:230 55:13-15'>Psa 55:13-15</a> ("a man mine equal::. let death seize upon them"), as also in <a href='B:230 109:3'>Psa 109:3</a> cp. :8.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For they persecute him whom You have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom You have hurt-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The parallel between "him" and "those" reflects David's awareness that his sufferings were representative of those of God's people. This is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus on the cross, who was "wounded" for our sins on the cross (s:w. <a href='B:290 53:5'>Isa 53:5</a>; <a href='B:450 13:6'>Zec 13:6</a>), with the "wound" of the judgment for sin which was the just desert of His people (s:w. <a href='B:300 30:14'>Jer 30:14</a>; <a href='B:310 2:12'>Lam 2:12</a>):&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Add iniquity to their iniquity; don’t let them come into Your righteousness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is a feature of God's dealings with men that He confirms the degree of spiritual success or failure which we achieve or aim for by our own freewill effort. Thus we read nine times that Pharaoh hardened his own heart; but ten times that God hardened his heart. Similarly, God adds iniquity unto the iniquity of those who willfully sin (<a href='B:230 69:27'>Psa 69:27</a>; <a href='B:730 22:18'>Rev 22:18</a>). Conversely God imputes righteousness, adding His own righteous characteristics to us, in response to our faith. This is the key idea of 'justification by faith', being counted righteous although personally we are not.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The suggestion is that they had been in the book of life, they were part of the Israel of God, but David wishes for them to be removed from it. This wishing of condemnation upon enemies, even when they include your own son [Absalom], seems so far from the spirit of the God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and instead wishes that all men come to repentance. Desire for repentance in his enemies is rarely seen in David; we find only death wishes, and even a desire for their eternal damnation. He continues to divide his world into the sinners and "the righteous", forgetting that he was only righteous after his sins of adultery and murder because he was counted righteous. The spirit of Moses was so different, wishing himself blotted out of the book of life so that sinful Israel might enter the land (<a href='B:20 32:32'>Exo 32:32</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But I am in pain and distress. Let Your salvation, God, protect me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Protect me" is AV "set me up on high". David sees the contrast between his present lowness and the height of his ultimate exaltation. David again sees himself as following the pattern of Job (s:w. <a href='B:220 5:11'>Job 5:11</a>). This was ultimately true of the Lord Jesus in His ascent to Heaven and Divine nature. Solomon presents his father David's being 'set on high' (<a href='B:230 69:29'>Psa 69:29</a>) as programmatic for the exaltation of all the righteous; he sees David as the epitome of the righteous, and thereby justifies the Davidic dynasty (s:w. <a href='B:240 18:10'>Pro 18:10</a>; <a href='B:240 29:25'>Pro 29:25</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again we note the change in tone of the Psalm. As noted on :19, David begins by praying desperately for help, and then within the same Psalm, becomes calmer, and ends up rejoicing. Perhaps there was some dramatic Divine revelation to him during the prayer. But rather I suggest that this is simply true to our spiritual experience in prayer; we too within the course of prayer become calmer, seeing God's hand, aware that He does know precisely all our situation, better than we do; and shall finally bring us to the great salvation of His eternal Kingdom. And thus we conclude the prayer in joy and peace before Him.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It will please Yahweh better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had earlier come to realize that a broken and contrite heart was worth more to God than any animal sacrifice (<a href='B:230 51:17'>Psa 51:17</a>). Here he develops the idea to say that praising God for His grace (:30) was worth more than sacrifices; and that praise offered from a humble heart is hugely valuable to God. Hence the theme of humility continues in :32.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :31, a humble heart full of praise of grace is so valuable to God. The idea may be that the humble "see" or perceive that God wants praise of His Name rather than sacrifices; and this is what God had Himself wanted. It was this attitude of heart which would live for ever (Heb:). Although we have no immortal soul, the righteous have an immortal spirit in that who we are in our hearts now is who we shall eternally be.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Yahweh hears the needy, and doesn’t despise His captive people-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This has clearly been rewritten with reference to the captive exiles; see on :35. 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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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let heaven and earth praise Him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David associates the salvation of Zion with the "seas" praising God, the Gentiles beyond the "earth" / land promised to Abraham. This is the prophetic vision; of Zion's redemption being a powerful example for the Gentiles to accept Israel's God.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah. They shall settle there, and own it-</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><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Or we can understand this reference to Zion as an example of a Psalm of David being rewritten and reapplied, under Divine inspiration, to a later historical situation- perhaps to the restoration, when the exiles again lived in the cities of Judah. See on :33. "Own it" is the word for "Drove out" in <a href='B:230 44:2'>Psa 44:2</a>. It is the word for "inherit" in the promises that Abraham's seed would "inherit" the land (<a href='B:10 15:7-8'>Gen 15:7-8</a>; <a href='B:10 28:4'>Gen 28:4</a>). As in our experience, there is always a primary fulfilment of God's promises and eternal covenant, which was based around the promises to Abraham. This was of particular comfort to the exiles. Although God appeared not to be coming through for them at the time, they were to take comfort in the covenant with Abraham; God's hand had worked in the past and would do so again, and the land was ultimately theirs. Even if at the moment their enemies were in the ascendancy.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. By David. A reminder-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is a fragment from <a href='B:230 40:1-17'>Psa 40:1-17</a>, although here "Yahweh" is used instead of "elohim". And the final verse changes <a href='B:230 40:17'>Psa 40:17</a> "Yet the Lord thinks upon me" to an appeal for urgent help. It could be that David recalls his earlier successful prayer for urgent help in a situation and repeats it, although without the praise for an answer, which has not yet been received. Perhaps this is the sense of the Psalm title "a reminder", to act as God had done previously. Psalms 40 is an appeal for help with the consequences of the sin with Bathsheba, and maybe Psalms 70 was related to facing another such consequence.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me, Yahweh-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David repeatedly asks God to "hurry to help me" (<a href='B:230 22:19'>Psa 22:19</a>; <a href='B:230 38:22'>Psa 38:22</a>; <a href='B:230 40:13'>Psa 40:13</a>; <a href='B:230 70:1'>Psa 70:1</a>; <a href='B:230 70:5'>Psa 70:5</a>; <a href='B:230 141:1'>Psa 141:1</a>). But David had hurried (s:w:) to be obedient to God, always wanting to 'say yes straight away' (<a href='B:230 119:60'>Psa 119:60</a>). Our response to God's voice is therefore related to His response to our voice; if His words abide in us, then we experience positive experience in answered prayer (<a href='B:500 15:7'>Joh 15:7</a>). </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Saul sought&nbsp; to take David's life. So many of the Psalms contain imprecations against those who were seeking David's soul- not just his physical life, but seeking to destroy his very being (e:g. <a href='B:230 35:4'>Psa 35:4</a>; <a href='B:230 40:14'>Psa 40:14</a>; <a href='B:230 54:1'>Psa 54:1</a>; <a href='B:230 63:9'>Psa 63:9</a>; <a href='B:230 70:2'>Psa 70:2</a>; <a href='B:230 71:13'>Psa 71:13</a>). These imprecations expose the evil of Saul, and asks God to condemn him. Some of those Psalms appear to have been written by David in the Saul days, and then rewritten at the time of Absalom's rebellion- another man who sought David's soul, and yet whom David loved:&nbsp;These words perhaps originated in the wilderness Psalm of <a href='B:230 35:4'>Psa 35:4</a>. But David repeats them here, in this Psalm which appears to reference to David's sin with Bathsheba, which provoked the plotting against David's life referred to here. And yet we wonder as to how David could so bitterly wish the destruction of his opponents, when he himself had been saved by grace.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let them be turned back because of their shame who say, Aha! Aha!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's repeated desire to see the condemnation of those who were judging him seems inappropriate for a man saved by grace; for they were the vehicles for receiving the consequences of his sins.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You. Let those who love Your salvation continually say, Let God be exalted!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again we query why and how David continues to see people in such black and white terms, divided between the righteous and unrighteous, when he himself had been revealed as a righteous man who had sinned seriously.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The faithful are described as "those that seek (God)::. such as love Your salvation". But truly seeks God (<a href='B:520 3:11'>Rom 3:11</a> - the context concerns all of us, believers and unbelievers); and yet we are those who seek Him. We must be ambitious to do the impossible. Those who truly love righteousness and the Kingdom will be rewarded with it. Likewise Paul in <a href='B:530 8:2-3'>1Co 8:2-3</a> describes the faithful man as one who accepts he knows nothing as he ought to know, but truly loves God. <a href='B:650 9:28'>Heb 9:28</a> is clear: "Unto them that look for (Christ) shall He appear the second time::. unto salvation". Those who truly look for Christ will be given salvation.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David responded to their seeking of him by seeking God more. He uses the language of the hunt and chase to describe how he was drawing closer to God: "My soul followeth hard after thee" (<a href='B:230 63:8'>Psa 63:8</a>; Psalms 63 is a wilderness psalm, see title). “Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul::. let all those that seek thee rejoice" (<a href='B:230 40:14'>Psa 40:14</a>; <a href='B:230 40:16'>Psa 40:16</a>). In this sense, David felt he wasn't fleeing from his enemies as much as fleeing to God: "Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies (from whom he was running): I flee unto thee to hide me" (<a href='B:230 143:9'>Psa 143:9</a>). This fleeing to God didn't mean that David and Jesus didn't respond or retaliate verbally; both of them, especially the Lord Jesus, did. They both pleaded their innocence, and accused their enemies of being unfair and hypocritical. Yet this must have been done from a genuine motive of love; as David loved Saul, as the thought of Saul's death must have torn at his heart, so the Lord Jesus loved Israel, weeping over Jerusalem, wishing to himself like a child for the impossible: that they would know him as their Saviour. Both David and Jesus had a real sense of direction, they could see that their mental, emotional and physical sufferings were leading them towards an altogether higher relationship with the Father. They took those sufferings as an almost welcome push towards the Father. They had a sure sense of spiritual direction in all their afflictions; this accounts for the human loneliness which they both felt.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In You, Yahweh, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Typical of men of his time, David seems to fear shame [s:w. "disappointed"] more than death itself. Defeat meant shame, and he desperately begged not to be shamed. Perhaps it was the function of his failure with Bathsheba to help him redefine the motives for his trust in God. This Psalm repeats language from Psalms 22, 31, 35, 40 - which were all in the context of his sin with Bathsheba. It seems that this Psalms 71 is his plea for help as he continues to face the consequences of that sin even in his old age.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that God was David's city of refuge. These cities were for those who needed to flee when being chased by the avenger of blood (<a href='B:40 35:26'>Num 35:26</a>). The imagery is very appropriate to David when fleeing from Saul and Absalom. David's constant meditation upon God's law would have included the sections about the cities of refuge; he realized that actually no such city was available for him, but the spirit of the law led him to reflect that Yahweh was his refuge, wherever he was. David tends to open wilderness Psalms with this reflection, just as we may tend to begin prayers with the same opening phrase and thoughts (<a href='B:230 7:1'>Psa 7:1</a>; <a href='B:230 11:1'>Psa 11:1</a>; <a href='B:230 16:1'>Psa 16:1</a>; <a href='B:230 31:1'>Psa 31:1</a>; <a href='B:230 57:1'>Psa 57:1</a>; <a href='B:230 71:1'>Psa 71:1</a>). But here he now reuses this lesson learned in the context of Absalom's rebellion.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A case can be made that the whole of book 3 of the Psalter (Psalms 73-89) was written / edited in Babylon. The Psalms of Korah (83-87) seem to reflect the longing of the righteous remnant in Babylon for the temple services. And it is just possible that the entire Psalter was re-edited there in Babylon, under inspiration- for so many Psalms have elements of appropriacy to the exiles in Babylon and the restoration. The LXX titles of Psalms 56 [“Concerning the people that were removed from the Sanctuary”] and 71 [“Of the sons of Jonadab, and the first that were taken captive”] speak for themselves. Likewise the LXX attributes Psalms 146-148 to Haggai and Zechariah. David's experience of grace and appeal for salvation by grace was therefore intended to be programmatic for the exiles in Babylon.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Deliver me in Your righteousness and rescue me. Turn Your ear to me and save me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David appealed to God's righteousness for deliverance from the consequence of his sins (<a href='B:230 71:2'>Psa 71:2</a>). This was appropriate, seeing that David had been saved from death by God's imputation of His righteousness to David (<a href='B:230 32:1-4'>Psa 32:1-4</a>), by grace through faith; seeing David's sins left him with no righteousness of his own. And it was on this basis that David believed he would continue to be saved / delivered / rescued (s:w. <a href='B:230 51:14'>Psa 51:14</a> in the Bathsheba context). But Solomon failed to learn from his mother and father's experience of grace, teaching instead that personal righteousness is what saves (<a href='B:240 10:2'>Pro 10:2</a>; <a href='B:240 11:4'>Pro 11:4</a>; <a href='B:240 11:6'>Pro 11:6</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may always go-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had often used this image in the wilderness Psalms. But he asks that God will continue to be his refuge, now that in later life he faced another crisIsa. This is the force of "always", throughout his life.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David envisages a Divine command being issued in the court of Heaven, and then this being operationalized on earth (presumably by the Angels).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may have originated in his thoughts about Saul, but the context is now of salvation from Absalom and Ahithophel, and as noted on :1, 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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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For You are my hope, Lord Yahweh; my confidence from my youth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :3, David is asking that God will continue to be his refuge as he was when on the run from Saul, now that in later life he faced another crisIsa. This is the force of "always" in :3, throughout his life. We note that the Hebrew idea of "hope" is not 'a hope for the best', but rather an absolute confidence; hence "hope" and "confidence" are here paralleled. The "hope of Israel" is the utter certain confidence of Israel. The same idea is implicit in the Greek word elpIsa.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have relied on You from the womb. You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David here likens God to a midwife, who gently eased and took him from his mother's womb. This usage of female imagery about God was unusual for the time, indeed quite a paradigm breaker, and reflects David's relatively high view of women- compared at least to contemporary attitudes. If David was the youngest of many sons, his mother may well have had difficulties in his birth, and so his very survival was perhaps seen by him as a reflection of grace.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will always praise You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The force of "always" in :3 is as here; David will praise God on his harp as he did in the wilderness years in exile from Saul, right to the end of his days.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I am a marvel to many, but You are my strong refuge-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Marvel" is the usual word for "miracle". David may mean that "many" considered his survival to be miraculous, but he attributes that to God as being his "strong refuge". But the word can occasionally mean a man of sign or symbol to others (s:w. <a href='B:330 12:6'>Eze 12:6</a>; <a href='B:330 12:11'>Eze 12:11</a>). In this case, David would be again aware (as he often is) that his life and experience of Divine grace was representative of that of all God's true people.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My mouth shall be filled with Your praise, with Your honour all the day-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Despite fears for his immediate future (:9), David's vision is of himself in the Kingdom, eternally praising God for His saving grace. This is the perspective we must have before us.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David frequently expresses his aloneness, and the comfort He therefore finds in God. But this had to grow over time. His fears were those of the exiles (see on :1). &nbsp; <a href='B:290 46:4'>Isa 46:4</a> seems almost to be in answer to David’s fear, and is addressed to the exiles: “Even to old age I am he, and even to grey hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver”.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For my enemies talk about me, they who watch for my soul conspire together-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Conspire" is s:w. "counsel", the word used of Ahithophel, David's counsellor who was Bathsheba's grandfather, who later betrayed him and turned against him (<a href='B:100 15:12'>2Sa 15:12</a>; <a href='B:100 16:23'>2Sa 16:23</a>). Perhaps David is commenting upon Ahithophel's counsel to Absalom which was designed to destroy him. See on <a href='B:230 32:8'>Psa 32:8</a>.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>saying, God has forsaken him. Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It was at this time that David felt God had forsaken him (<a href='B:230 22:1'>Psa 22:1</a>). But He had not, ultimately. So we have here an example of false guilt being placed upon a man even of David's faith and spirituality. We must take guilt for sins we have done. This is the true guilt. But the world is full of those who place false guilt upon others, and we can too easily absorb it. And yet I suppose it is impossible, at least by any intellectual process, to precisely divide false guilt from true guilt. We can take comfort that the Lord Jesus was our guilt offering, for all our guilt, of whatever kind. We note that they pursued David because they thought God had forsaken him and would not therefore judge them.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, don’t be far from me. My God, hurry to help me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>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>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's desire was heard in that the sword and the forest devoured or consumed Absalom and his forces (<a href='B:100 18:8'>2Sa 18:8</a>). But when the prayer was answered, David wept bitterly for the loss of Absalom. We are thereby warned to be careful what we pray for, lest we receive it- which in some form we will.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let them be covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Saul sought&nbsp;or 'wanted' to take David's life. So many of the Psalms contain imprecations against those who were seeking David's soul- not just his physical life, but seeking to destroy his very being (e:g. <a href='B:230 35:4'>Psa 35:4</a>; <a href='B:230 40:14'>Psa 40:14</a>; <a href='B:230 54:1'>Psa 54:1</a>; <a href='B:230 63:9'>Psa 63:9</a>; <a href='B:230 70:2'>Psa 70:2</a>; <a href='B:230 71:13'>Psa 71:13</a>). These imprecations expose the evil of Saul, and asks God to condemn him. Some of those Psalms appear to have been written by David in the Saul days, and then rewritten at the time of Absalom's rebellion- another man who sought David's soul, and yet whom David loved:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But I will always hope, and will add to all of Your praise-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The tone of the Psalm begins to change from this point. This so often happens in the Psalms; David begins by praying desperately for help, and then within the same Psalm, becomes calmer, and ends up rejoicing. Perhaps there was some dramatic Divine revelation to him during the prayer. But rather I suggest that this is simply true to our spiritual experience in prayer; we too within the course of prayer become calmer, seeing God's hand, aware that He does know precisely all our situation, better than we do; and shall finally bring us to the great salvation of His eternal Kingdom. And thus we conclude the prayer in joy and peace before Him.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My mouth will tell others about Your righteousness and Your salvation all day, though I don’t know its full measure-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had vowed the same at the time of his forgiveness for the sin with Bathsheba. Now he promises it again, if God delivers him from the consequence of that sin. We note that he vows to tell others that which he admits he cannot fully fathom. Full intellectual grasp of the message of grace is not possible nor required to be able to share it with others.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will declare the mighty acts of the Lord Yahweh. I will make mention of Your righteousness, even of Yours alone-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David appealed to God's righteousness for deliverance from the consequence of his sins (<a href='B:230 71:2'>Psa 71:2</a>). This was appropriate, seeing that David had been saved from death by God's imputation of His righteousness to David (<a href='B:230 32:1-4'>Psa 32:1-4</a>), by grace through faith; seeing David's sins left him with no righteousness of his own. And it was on this basis that David believed he would continue to be saved / delivered / rescued (s:w. <a href='B:230 51:14'>Psa 51:14</a> in the Bathsheba context). This salvation by grace of a condemned sinner was and is "the might acts of Yahweh", as dramatic as what He did at the Red Sea or in any visible miracle.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, You have taught me from my youth. Up until now I have declared Your wondrous works-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :3, David could look back and perceive the continuous action of God in his life, and despite his sin with Bathsheba, he rightly perceived that he had made a continuous positive response to His hand. From his youth, David had asked to be taught God's way (<a href='B:230 119:7'>Psa 119:7</a>; <a href='B:230 119:12'>Psa 119:12</a>; <a href='B:230 119:26'>Psa 119:26</a>; <a href='B:230 119:64'>Psa 119:64</a>; <a href='B:230 119:66'>Psa 119:66</a>; <a href='B:230 119:68'>Psa 119:68</a>; <a href='B:230 119:73'>Psa 119:73</a>; <a href='B:230 119:108'>Psa 119:108</a>; <a href='B:230 119:124'>Psa 119:124</a>; <a href='B:230 119:135'>Psa 119:135</a>), and at the end of his life David recognized that indeed God had "taught me from my youth" (s:w. <a href='B:230 71:17'>Psa 71:17</a>). In secular life, teaching is something experienced in youth, and then life is spent practicing what was learned. But in spiritual life, David perceived that the God who had taught him from his youth was continuing to teach him (<a href='B:230 71:17'>Psa 71:17</a>). This is part of the "newness of life" experienced in Christ, the ever fresh spring water that we drink.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, even when I am old and gray-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared Your strength to the next generation, Your might to everyone who is to come-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This seems to mean that David is writing this when he is old. I discussed on :11 how David was picking up and absorbing the attitude of his critics that God had forsaken him- when God hadn't. He wishes to stay alive so that he might spread the knowledge of God's grace to the next generation (:15,16). His entire purpose of living was in order to evangelize God's grace; and that should be why we wish to stay alive. God's might and strength, as discussed on :16, are revealed in His gracious forgiveness and salvation of condemned sinners.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>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'>Your righteousness also, God, reaches to the heavens; You have done great things. God, who is like You?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As discussed on :16, the "great things" performed by God were His forgiveness and salvation of a condemned sinner like David. He did this by His righteousness, by imputing it to sinners; and David was the parade example of this (<a href='B:230 32:1-4'>Psa 32:1-4</a>). 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'>You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, You will let me live. You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The confusion between "me" and "us" is intentional, because as noted on :1, these personal experiences of David are being reapplied to the exiles, and ultimately to the entire community of God's people. We too can therefore personalize the Psalms as we read them. "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'. We note David doesn't speak of coming down from heaven, but of resurrection out of the earth and only then, at that point, being allowed to live [eternally].</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>increase my honour, and comfort me again-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is in the context of the clear statement of faith in the resurrection of the body in :20. David was perhaps concluding that Nathan was right after all about the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba. He would not be honoured nor comforted in this life as he wished, but only at the last day.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, my God. I sing praise to You with the lyre, Holy One of Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The context of :20,21 appears to speak of David's position after the resurrection he looked forward to. He imagines himself continuing to praise God on the harp as he had done in this life. Whether that shall literally happen is a question and interest only for literalists. But the idea is established- that the essence of how we have served God in this life is how we shall eternally serve Him. Hence the Lord Jesus can invite us to live "the eternal life" right now; in that we can live the kind of life we shall eternally live in God's Kingdom.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My lips shall shout for joy! My soul, which You have redeemed, sings praises to You!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The context is of the resurrection from the dead (:20,21), when David shall finally be "redeemed". It seems he had looked in vain for redemption from the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba, and concludes that his house / kingdom / family in this life "is not so with God" (<a href='B:100 23:5'>2Sa 23:5</a>). And so he focuses himself here upon his final redemption in the last day at the resurrection (:20).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm for Solomon -</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's hopes and expectations for Solomon are expressed in Psalms 72, "A Psalm for Solomon". The Hebrew title can equally mean "A Psalm of Solomon". David was so certain that his expectations would be fulfilled. David's prediction that Solomon would wisely judge his people (<a href='B:230 72:2'>Psa 72:2</a>) was perhaps why Solomon asked God to give him wisdom to judge God's people. His wise judgment of the prostitutes, and his willingness to consider such cases, was surely a living out of David's expectation that he would deliver the poor, needy and those with no helper (<a href='B:230 72:12'>Psa 72:12</a>). The prediction that Solomon would be given of the gold of Sheba (<a href='B:230 72:15'>Psa 72:15</a>) was fulfilled by Solomon's willful trading with Sheba to get gold from there, and one wonders whether he in fact invited the Queen of Sheba to visit him in order to fulfil the prediction that the rulers of Sheba would come to him with gifts (<a href='B:230 72:10'>Psa 72:10</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God would only have a permanent physical house when His people were permanently settled, never to be moved again (<a href='B:100 7:10'>2Sa 7:10</a>), i:e. in the Kingdom. Yet Solomon perceived that his kingdom was in fact the final Kingdom of God. David made this mistake, in assuming in Psalms 72 that Solomon’s Kingdom would undoubtedly be the Messianic one</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> and Solomon repeated the error, yet to a more tragic extent.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Solomon abused his people and turned away from God (<a href='B:110 12:14'>1Ki 12:14</a>). David's vision of his son as the Messianic ruler didn't come about. But these words were inspired, and they will come true- through reapplication to the Lord Jesus, his greater son. David had many sons, but clearly Solomon was the favourite, the love child, effectively, of David's relationship with Bathsheba, the married woman he had become besotted with. It was this favouritism which no doubt provoked Absalom and his other sons to make the rebellions they did, no doubt deeply irked by prophecies like this in Psalms 72, which served the same function as Jacob's giving the priestly coat to Joseph. And it led Solomon to ultimate spiritual failure, because he came to assume that he would automatically fulfil the promises to David about a Messianic son. And so he came to consider himself spiritually inviolate, and came to live a life of debauchery rather than spirituality. David of course claimed that God had chosen Solomon out of all his sons (<a href='B:130 28:5'>1Ch 28:5</a>), but there is no record of that happening; rather do we suspect that David came to imagine that his own choice was in fact God's. Psalms 72 was David's declaration that he believed Solomon would be the Messianic ruler; but that was proven wrong, because Solomon did not reign with justice and turned away from Yahweh. The words will come true in the person of the Lord Jesus, but David was wrong to insist they must apply to Solomon.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, give the king Your justice; Your righteousness to the royal son-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea of a gift of righteousness had been learned by David after his sin with Bathsheba (<a href='B:230 32:1-4'>Psa 32:1-4</a>)- when he had no righteousness of his own. But righteousness was imputed by grace through faith, and Solomon knew little of grace and faith. The Proverbs, true as they are so far as they go, reveal a self-congratulatory, works-based spirit which has little to say about grace. </p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Solomon ultimately failed to do this, whipping the people and abusing them to complete his endless, obsessive building projects. The prophecy had possibility of later fulfilment in Zerubbabel, but that too didn't come about; and so it was reapplied finally to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The majestic prophecy of <a href='B:300 23:5-7'>Jer 23:5-7</a> had prophesied that when Israel returned from Babylon, “the branch” would rise and save them “and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth”, i:e. establish the Messianic Kingdom (cp. <a href='B:230 72:2'>Psa 72:2</a>; <a href='B:290 9:7'>Isa 9:7</a>). But Zerubbabel, the “branch-from-Babylon”, lead the people back from Babylon, half heartedly built a temple- which faithful men wept at, when they saw how feeble it was compared to that which should have been (<a href='B:150 3:12'>Ezr 3:12</a>). And then he beat it back to Babylon.</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'>The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people, the hills will bring the fruit of righteousness-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is better translated to the effect that the mountains [an intensive plural for the one great mountain, Zion] would bring peace to the little hills. The vision was of the surrounding nations, the hills, being brought to peace with God through the function of the sanctuary in Zion which David planned for Solomon to build. But Solomon intermarried with the surrounding peoples, and was influenced by them to idolatry rather than bringing them to Israel's God.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will judge the poor of the people, he will save the children of the needy and will break the oppressor in pieces-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The RV says that Psalms 72 is a Psalm of Solomon- in which case we have David or Solomon asking God to give him the throne, in return for which he would establish the Messianic Kingdom. His judging of the poor harlots would therefore have been in conscious fulfilment of the predictions he himself had made as to what his Messianic Kingdom would be like- as a time when the poor would be judged by him (<a href='B:230 72:4'>Psa 72:4</a>; <a href='B:230 72:13'>Psa 72:13</a>). He came to articulate God’s Kingdom in terms of how he wanted his Kingdom to be. It could be truly said that there is an urgent need for us to be convicted - deeply convicted - of our desperate need for the person of Jesus, His second coming and Messianic Kingdom:&nbsp;&nbsp;Solomon was so obsessed with himself, so inward-looking, so sure of his spiritual pedigree, so sure of the intellectual correctness of his spiritual knowledge that his need for salvation didn't enter his heart:&nbsp;&nbsp; Because he never publicly sinned (unlike David) he lacked the awareness of his own sinfulness which would have helped him realize he was only a primary fulfilment of the Davidic promises:&nbsp;&nbsp; Lack of&nbsp; awareness of our own sinfulness is connected with a lack of true enthusiasm for the Messianic Kingdom:&nbsp;&nbsp; Because he thought the kingdom was with him, Solomon evidently failed to discern the chronic need of his own nature, both physically and morally:&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They shall fear You while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David imagined Solomon's kingdom morphing into the eternal Messianic kingdom. This was parental obsession, overlooking the fact that all men sin and must die, and are saved from the grave only by grace through faith.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In <a href='B:240 19:12'>Pro 19:12</a> Solomon speaks as if his own wisdom was like the dew coming down- as if he felt that the mere possession of wisdom made him the Messiah figure which his father had so hoped for him to be in <a href='B:230 72:6'>Psa 72:6</a>. And he says as much in <a href='B:240 29:3'>Pro 29:3</a>: “Whoso loveth wisdom [exactly what Solomon was commended for doing] rejoiceth his father”. He saw his wisdom and knowledge as some sort of a reward in themselves: “the prudent are crowned with knowledge” (<a href='B:240 14:18'>Pro 14:18</a>). This is of course true in a sense, as all the Proverbs are. But Solomon surely had the idea that he, who was so renowned for his knowledge, was somehow thereby rewarded by having it. This assumption by Solomon was likely behind each of the many references he makes to the value of wisdom and the blessedness of the man who has it. It is rather like feeling that ‘we have the truth’ because somehow our correct understanding of doctrines is a reward for our righteousness, and mere possession of doctrinal truth means that we are acceptable to God. &nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Micah’s description of how “the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass” (<a href='B:400 5:7'>Mic 5:7</a>) is consciously alluding to the then-famous Messianic prophecy of <a href='B:230 72:6'>Psa 72:6</a>: “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth”. The blessings Messiah brings are to be articulated through the witness of those in Him.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In his days, the righteous shall flourish-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Solomon's later statement that the righteous would flourish is therefore a reference to this (<a href='B:240 11:28'>Pro 11:28</a>), assuming that David's fantasy of Solomon having an eternal kingdom was going to be fulfilled in him. 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><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And abundance of peace-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This had been David's vision of the future Kingdom of God (s:w. <a href='B:230 37:11'>Psa 37:11</a>), but he assumes and wishes that Solomon's kingdom would have become that.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Until the moon is no more-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> As discussed on :5, David liked to imagine that Solomon's kingdom would be eternal.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the land-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Solomon was intended by David to fulfil the promises to Abraham; for Israel had never fully inherited the land area promised to him. This was David’s prayer for Solomon; that he should have been the Messiah, and his Kingdom should have been Messiah’s. <a href='B:130 28:6-7'>1Ch 28:6-7</a> definitely seems to imply that Solomon could have lived for ever had he been obedient: “I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments”. But&nbsp; Solomon failed, what was potentially possible didn’t come true, due to his apostasy. But these words are alluded to in <a href='B:450 8:5'>Zec 8:5</a>, as if to say that now, again, it could come true through the work of Joshua and Zerubbabel, and the priesthood and people being obedient to the temple prophecies of Ezekiel. If they wanted the Kingdom to come, then they had to live the Kingdom life:&nbsp;The coming King (and Joshua was prophesied as a king) was to free Judah from Persia’s dominion, and establish God’s Kingdom, with boys and girls playing in the streets of Jerusalem (<a href='B:450 8:5'>Zec 8:5</a>). “From sea even to sea” is a conscious quote of this famous Messianic prophecy of <a href='B:230 72:8'>Psa 72:8</a>.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had prophesied that his great son would "have dominion from sea to sea" (<a href='B:230 72:8'>Psa 72:8</a>). 'Have dominion' is the Hebrew word translated 'rule over' in <a href='B:110 5:15'>1Ki 5:15</a>. David's vision of his Messianic son having a world-wide Kingdom, in which all people blessed him for his grace and beneficence, was abused by Solomon into justifying 'having dominion' over people as his personal slaves; and they certainly didn't bless him for it but rather complained (<a href='B:110 12:11'>1Ki 12:11</a>). It's as if Solomon grabbed the word 'rule over / have dominion', wrenched it out of context, and used it to justify his actions, giving a quasi-Biblical justification to his pure selfishness. This is where knowledge of God's word can be a dangerous thing; leading people into a stronger self-justification than they would otherwise have had if they were guided by self-recognized greed alone.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; his enemies shall lick the dust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We must read :9-11 in the context of David's vision of Solomon ruling over the entire eretz promised to Abraham (:8). The references to the Bedouins of the desert, the kings of Tarshish and Sheba (:10), therefore refer to the nations on the boundaries of that territory. The idea is that Solomon was to rule over the entire eretz- and even beyond, even over the peoples just over the borders of it.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :9. These were the areas on the edge of the eretz promised to Abraham, and indeed the queen of Sheba did come to Solomon with gifts. We note that "Tarshish" here doesn't refer to the United Kingdom. The earth was understood as the territory promised to Abraham, and anything beyond it is spoken of as the sea or islands.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This homage and the gifts of :10 were not to be because these nations have been forced into submission, as was usually the case in kingdom building at that time. They fall before him with their gifts because ["for"] of his justice (:12,15). The queen of Sheba brought her gifts from respect (:10), not because she was forced to. And so it is and shall ever be in the extension of God's Kingdom upon earth:&nbsp;</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :11, the astounding justice and loving care of the king of the kingdom would bring other nations to willingly submit and offer gifts (:10,11); not as signs that they had been forced into submission by military prowess. All visions of the Lord Jesus at His return forcing nations to accept Him at the point of a sword::. are out of step with all we have seen and known of Him, as well as of these prophecies. These words were not fulfilled in Solomon as David confidently expected; Solomon whipped the people rather than delivering the needy who cried for help. And his throne hardly endured as long as the sun.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will have pity on the poor and needy, he will save the needy persons-</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :4. Pity on the surrounding Gentiles is the language of <a href='B:390 4:11'>Jon 4:11</a> about Nineveh. The old covenant required that Israel show no pity to the nations of the eretz promised to Abraham, lest they lead the people into idolatry (s:w. <a href='B:50 7:16'>Deu 7:16</a>). David, as so often, is looking beyond this to a new situation whereby Israel's king would show them pity, if like Nineveh they were repentant. But Solomon mixed with those nations and accepted their idols. 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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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence, their blood will be precious in his sight-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Hebrew word hamas [basically meaning 'physical violence arising from wicked plans'] is quite common in Scripture, and the usages speak of how God is provoked by hamas to bring judgment upon the enemies of His people (<a href='B:10 6:11-13'>Gen 6:11-13</a>; <a href='B:400 6:12'>Mic 6:12</a>; <a href='B:430 1:9'>Zep 1:9</a>) and also to intervene in order to save His people (<a href='B:230 18:49'>Psa 18:49</a>; <a href='B:230 72:14'>Psa 72:14</a>). How amazingly appropriate that an organization actually called hamas has arisen in these last days to do violence to Israel! If Biblical history means anything to us, clearly enough God's intervention in appropriate judgment and salvation cannot be far off. Note how Hagar's persecution of Sarah- typical of the Arab-Jew conflict- is described as her hamas (<a href='B:10 16:5'>Gen 16:5</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In <a href='B:230 49:8'>Psa 49:8</a> David had used the same words for how the soul or life of persons should be treated as "precious". Saul used the same phrase of David's saving his life: "My soul was precious in your eyes" [s:w. "life is costly"] (<a href='B:90 26:21'>1Sa 26:21</a>). David is alluding to this; Saul's human life had been precious or costly to him, but he was unable to redeem Saul eternally. Only God could do that, if Saul by faith accepted God's grace. David wished that Solomon would have the same perspective, considering the soul or life of people to be "precious" or "costly", appreciating the value and meaning of human persons. But sadly Solomon abused his people later, as it were whipping them with whiPsa.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. Men shall pray for him continually, they shall bless him all day long-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that because the poor and needy would be allowed to "live" and would be treated with justice and grace (:14), Sheba would give her gold and continual prayer be made for the king. It was usual that conquered peoples were forced to pray to the gods of their conquerors, and to give their gold. But as noted on :10,11, the growth of this Kingdom of God would be on a quite different basIsa. Peoples would be awed by the grace displayed, and would voluntarily come to worship Israel's God, acting as if they had indeed been conquered by Him- but by His love and grace, rather than His sword.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land, its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As a result of just kingship, the blessings for obedience to the covenant would come about, in terms of agricultural fecundity. "Abundance of grain" recalls the situation in the seven years of plenty in Egypt, the implication being that this grain would be shared with the Gentile world around them, in order to lead them to Israel's God.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>His name endures forever, his name continues as long as the sun-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again David is imagining Solomon ruling eternally, but without due regard for the results of sin and the need for the grace of resurrection and forgiveness. And it was surely Yahweh's Name which should have been spoken of in this way and not Solomon's.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Men shall be blessed in him, all nations will call him blessed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion is to the Abrahamic promise of <a href='B:10 18:18'>Gen 18:18</a>: "All the nations of the earth will be blessed in him". But the promise about Abraham personally and his seed is too quickly assumed by David to be relevant to Solomon personally. There is an intended ambiguity in the grammar, as to whether "be blessed" is purely a prediction, or a command- to chose to become blessed in him. That choice is now made in terms of choosing to be baptized into the Lord Jesus, the true seed of Abraham, so that we might receive the blessing of forgiveness and life eternal inheriting the earth (<a href='B:510 3:25-26'>Act 3:25-26</a>; <a href='B:550 3:27-29'>Gal 3:27-29</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvellous deeds-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is an invitation for the "nations" of :17 to praise the God of Israel, not because they have been forcefully subjugated, but because they recognize that He is the one and only God, who can do such marvellous things as restoring His sinful people.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blessed be His glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen and amen-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :18 this is David's desire that the entire eretz promised to Abraham be filled with peoples who genuinely wish to bless the name of Israel's God and thereby give glory to Him.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Book III. A Psalm by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A case can be made that the whole of book 3 of the Psalter (Psalms 73-89) was written / edited in Babylon. The Psalms of Korah (83-87) seem to reflect the longing of the righteous remnant in Babylon for the temple services. And it is just possible that the entire Psalter was re-edited there in Babylon, under inspiration- for so many Psalms have elements of appropriacy to the exiles in Babylon and the restoration. The LXX titles of Psalms 56 [“Concerning the people that were removed from the Sanctuary”] and 71 [“Of the sons of Jonadab, and the first that were taken captive”] speak for themselves. Likewise the LXX attributes Psalms 146-148 to Haggai and Zechariah.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This redefines "Israel" away from ethnic definition; the Israel of God are the "pure in heart". This Psalm may initially have been David's thanksgiving for God's restoration of his kingdom after the rebellion of Absalom. It describes a struggle with the problem of evil, but begins and ends with triumph that God ultimately is good to Israel. This was particularly relevant to Judah in captivity. But again we query why David so simplistically divides people into the very righteous, of pure heart [which none have ultimately], and the worst sinners.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had nearly slipped-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David recognizes that his steps and feet had been stabilized by God (s:w. <a href='B:230 40:2'>Psa 40:2</a>). He saw God's active involvement in helping him see through the problem of evil, and praises God for it. This internal psychological stabilizing of faith and understanding is just as much seen today, through God's work through the Holy Spirit.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had calmly urged not to be envious of the wicked (s:w. <a href='B:230 37:1'>Psa 37:1</a>), but he himself almost failed in this (<a href='B:230 73:3'>Psa 73:3</a> s:w:). We can profess clearly how much we are not envious of others; and then find ourselves like David, caught in a pang of crisis when we wonder why our lives cannot be like those of the world around us. Solomon simplistically commanded not to be envious of the wicked, drawing a simple contrast between the wicked, and the righteous who are not envious of them (<a href='B:240 3:31'>Pro 3:31</a>; <a href='B:240 23:17'>Pro 23:17</a>; <a href='B:240 24:1'>Pro 24:1</a>; <a href='B:240 24:19'>Pro 24:19</a> s:w:). But this is not how it was in reality with his father David, who admits to almost having given in to envy of the wicked (<a href='B:230 73:3'>Psa 73:3</a>) despite his earlier simplistic condemnation of such envy (<a href='B:230 37:1'>Psa 37:1</a>), and was only saved from that by God's gracious action on his heart (<a href='B:230 73:2'>Psa 73:2</a>). Solomon's proverbs seem to fail to address this complexity of situations because of his own self-righteousness; and yet all he says is inspired and true so far as it goes.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Firm" is the word used of the prosperous wicked amongst the exiles (<a href='B:330 34:20'>Eze 34:20</a>). But as Ezekiel points out, this was only a temporary illusion. Ultimately, death is indeed a fetter (s:w. "struggles"), broken only by God's grace in Christ. The Psalmist is for a moment forgetting the Biblical picture of death, just as we can.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They are free from the burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:50 26:7'>Deu 26:7</a> uses the word for "burdens" of the judgment of those who break covenant. And God is not unmindful of who breaks covenant with Him. David had earlier confidently stated that the "mischief" (s:w. "burdens") of men would return upon their own heads at death and judgment (<a href='B:230 7:16'>Psa 7:16</a>; <a href='B:230 140:9'>Psa 140:9</a>). But in <a href='B:230 73:5'>Psa 73:5</a> he momentarily doubts thIsa. Our understanding of basic truths can suddenly be eclipsed by moments of doubt, just as we see happening with the disciples on the lake during the storm.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck, violence covers them like a garment-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The conclusion therefore is that awareness of the reality of death leads to humility, and those who refuse to perceive Divine judgment in this life become proud and violent, believing they will not face judgment for their actions. Chains were worn around the neck by leaders and governors (we think of Joseph and Daniel being given one); so the implication is that such men were in leadership positions within Israel. Perhaps David has in view Saul and the Absalom-Ahithophel group.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Their eyes bulge with fat, their minds pass the limits of conceit-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This recalls the spirit of Job's complaints at the present prosperity of the wicked. "Conceit" is the word usually translated "image", with reference to idols. David perceives that idolatry is essentially a matter of the heart, and he sees materialism as idolatry- a conception absolutely relevant to our age.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They scoff and speak with malice; in arrogance, they threaten oppression-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The LXX appears to reference the crafty counsel of Ahithophel at the time of Absalom's rebellion: "They have taken counsel and spoken in wickedness: they have uttered unrighteousness loftily".</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They have set their mouth in the heavens, their tongue walks through the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that they speak as if they are God; it is playing God which is the basis for arrogance and price. But LXX has "Against the heavens".</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"A metaphor for the enjoyment of pleasure". This was how they got people to turn after them, to follow them. David felt that by contrast he had few followers because he didn't have any great hope of prosperity to offer anyone.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They say, How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It's unlikely they actually said those words. But this is an example of where the unspoken implications of positions are stated for what they effectively are. To accept God exists, as these men apparently did, but to say that He has no awareness::. is self contradictory. But this is what their attitudes effectively stated.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Behold, these are the wicked-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalmist has built up an image of wicked men having a great life and then dying in peace. This isn't actually the case, but it was and is the image which can be imagined as true.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Being always at ease, they increase in riches-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The wicked and indeed nobody is every "always at ease". This is the idealized image which the doubting psalmist had built up. It is the same false image offered by the media and subliminal advertising today.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Surely in vain I have cleansed my heart, and washed my hands in innocence-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This language is appropriate to David who considers he washed the blood of Uriah from his hands by repentance, and had his heart cleansed by God's grace for the entire sin with Bathsheba (s:w. <a href='B:230 51:4'>Psa 51:4</a>; <a href='B:230 26:6'>Psa 26:6</a>). He would be suggesting that because he still suffered the consequence of the sin, all his cleansing from it was pointless grief. And yet this sense that "In vain I have cleansed my heart" could refer to how David in his youth had tried to cleanse his way according to God's word (s:w. <a href='B:230 119:9'>Psa 119:9</a>); and now he momentarily considers he may have wasted his effort. Solomon uses the same word in saying that nobody can say "I have cleansed my heart" (<a href='B:240 20:9'>Pro 20:9</a>); as if disagreeing with his father David on this point. Solomon may be suggesting that all you can do is live an externally clean life, you can never cleanse your heart- and this refusal to allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse him inwardly is what led to his apostasy. For disregarding deep, core level spiritual mindedness and trusting in externalities::. is a sure path to spiritual disaster. And Solomon took it.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>for all day long have I been plagued, and punished every morning-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Punished" is LXX "reproved". David may again be railing at how the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba continued, reproving him every morning. He struggled to accept Nathan's inspired words about this consequence. "Plagued" is used in the Bathsheba context (<a href='B:230 32:6'>Psa 32:6</a> s:w:).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>If I had said, I will speak thus; behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "I should have broken covenant with the generation of thy children". He would no longer have been part of the promised seed if he chose to go the way of the wicked.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When I tried to understand this, it was too painful for me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> "Painful" is s:w. "trouble" in :5. The wicked appear not to have pain or "troubles", but David struggled with the whole problem of evil and the apparent prosperity of the wicked, and this was a pain or trouble to him of itself. David was generally a very spiritual man, but we have here an insight into how even the most spiritually minded have their dark nights of the soul:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This could not have been true for the exiles, who were unable to do thIsa. The Psalm originated with David, but was reapplied to the exiles and all who later would struggle with the problem of the apparent prosperity of the wicked. On entering "the sanctuary", he saw the plates around the altar which were all that was left of Korah’s rebellion (<a href='B:40 16:38'>Num 16:38</a>), those who were thrown down into the earth (:18). David perceived the wicked of his age as no better than the wicked within Israel during the wilderness journey.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Surely You set them in slippery places, You threw them down to destruction-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This continues the allusion to the fate of Korah and his supporters (:17). "Thrown down" or "fall" was to be the fate of the unjust princes of Israel (s:w. <a href='B:230 82:7'>Psa 82:7</a>) just as it had been the fate of Korah and the princes with him (<a href='B:40 16:2'>Num 16:2</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How they were suddenly destroyed! They were completely swept away with terrors-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The lament is that the wicked seem to be so prosperous, and then David remembers that one day God will awake (:20). But it is ridiculous to think that God is now actually asleep. The judgment of the rebellious princes in Numbers 16 is seen as a pattern for all later rebels; and perhaps David has in view the rebels against him at the time of Absalom. The wages of sin is death (<a href='B:520 6:23'>Rom 6:23</a>)- not 'it will be death at the judgment', it is right now the response God makes to sin. Because God is without time, the judgment has effectively happened to them. We are come to "God the judge of all"- even now (<a href='B:650 12:23'>Heb 12:23</a>). And David perceived that. And yet mourned terribly when actually this happened, and Absalom was suddenly destroyed.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As a dream when one wakes up, so, Lord, when You awake, You will despise their fantasies-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "O Lord, in thy city thou wilt despise their image". David envisages judgment day being administered in Zion, when these men would be resurrected, judged, and die "the second death". To be despised by God is judgment enough. Their "fantasies", their self image (the Hebrew implies) will be revealed as vain.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For my soul was grieved, I was embittered in my heart-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>AV "Thus my heart was grieved" - for the tragedy of that rebellion, for the tragedy of men experiencing Divine condemnation. He didn’t gloat over the punishment of the wicked as he thinks about it at this point, although he does elsewhere. He grieved for it; it pricked his conscience, right within the depths of his being (AV "pricked in my reins").</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I was so senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The LXX sounds very much like an allusion to Job in his final realization and resolution of 'the problem of evil': "But I was vile and knew not: I became brutish before thee" (cp. <a href='B:220 40:4'>Job 40:4</a>). Envying the wicked is indeed being senseless and ignorant, and David uses these terms elsewhere about those who shall be condemned (<a href='B:230 49:10'>Psa 49:10</a>; <a href='B:230 92:6'>Psa 92:6</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>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Nevertheless, I am continually with You. You have held my right hand-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :22, David recognizes that he has temporarily lost perspective and spiritual focus during his time of envy at the wicked's prosperity. But he marvels that all through that weak period, be it minutes or months, God had remained with him and held his hand. This rules out for all time the attitude of separation from God's people whilst they pass through the dark nights of the soul which afflict all of us. We are to reflect God's continuance with us through it all.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You will guide me with Your word-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Your word" probably doesn't refer to the "Bible", because David would probably only have known the Pentateuch and Job. And he didn't have the scrolls readily available to him for much of his life. Perhaps the prophetic word he had in view was the promise of restoration and kingship, the final flourishing of his kingdom. This was the same word which in essence the exiles were to be guided by as they too struggled with the problems of justice and evil. And the end point of that guidance was to be "glory"; perhaps a return to the sanctuary where the glory was visible, or the glory of the reestablished Davidic kingdom.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And afterwards receive me in glory-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In this life, David felt his prayers had been "received" (s:w. <a href='B:230 6:9'>Psa 6:9</a>). His experience of answered prayer was therefore a foretaste of his faith that God would finally receive or accept him (<a href='B:230 49:15'>Psa 49:15</a>; <a href='B:230 73:24'>Psa 73:24</a> s:w:). The desire to be received "to glory" may refer to David's belief that he would again be able to enter the sanctuary and see God's glory there, a desire he so often expresses in the exilic Psalms.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David felt forsaken by all at this time, so the origin of the Psalm (however it was later reused by the exiles) was at a time when he was largely forsaken by men; perhaps at the time of Absalom's putsch. For David, Yahweh was not one of a number of deities; he didn't believe in Yahweh as well as idols. And this is a theme he develops in :27.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My flesh and my heart fails-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Perhaps initially written in David's health crisis after the sin with Bathsheba and whilst on the run from Absalom.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever-</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. We are God's portion / inheritance (<a href='B:50 4:20'>Deu 4:20</a>; <a href='B:50 9:29'>Deu 9:29</a>; <a href='B:560 1:18'>Eph 1:18</a>), and He is our inheritance (<a href='B:230 16:5-6'>Psa 16:5-6</a>; <a href='B:230 73:26'>Psa 73:26</a>; <a href='B:310 3:22-24'>Lam 3:22-24</a>; <a href='B:560 1:11'>Eph 1:11</a> RV); we inherit each other. David felt he was alienated from his rightful inheritance whilst on the run from both Saul and Absalom; and the exiles felt likewise.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For, behold, those who are far from You shall perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This helps the exiles understand that distance from God is not a geographical question of being far from the sanctuary, but such distance and closeness to God is rather a spiritual matter. "Unfaithful" suggests idolatry (s:w. <a href='B:230 106:39'>Psa 106:39</a>), and suggests that the wicked he had envied were in fact idolaters. If the initial context of the Psalm is Absalom's rebellion, then we can see another hint that they too were involved with idolatry.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A contemplation by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, why have You rejected us forever?- </p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It was inappropriate to claim that God was going to reject His people forever (also in <a href='B:230 44:23'>Psa 44:23</a>). The prophets had made it abundantly plain that God would not reject forever. Israel had "the hope of Israel" as surely as the planets are in the sky:&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Why does Your anger smoulder against the sheep of Your pasture?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The answer was 'Because they sinned'. But as David struggled to accept the consequences of his sins, so did the exiles.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Remember Your congregation which You purchased of old, which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appeal to believe they were already "redeemed" is similar to how David asks for redemption (e:g. <a href='B:230 69:18'>Psa 69:18</a>) when in fact he has already been redeemed. God had already forgiven David, ransoming and redeeming him. But he was left to suffer the consequences of those sins, and because of that, in crisis he starts to wonder whether he has indeed been forgiven. And we can do the same so easily. The consequence of sin is death, and we can squirm against this when we or others face it::. forgetting the wonder of the fact that we are indeed redeemed and ransomed from the power of the grave, although we must still take the consequences. The exiles likewise had to understand that they had been redeemed (s:w. <a href='B:230 74:2'>Psa 74:2</a>) but were suffering the consequence of sin. God was indeed their redeemer (<a href='B:290 41:14'>Isa 41:14</a>; <a href='B:290 43:1'>Isa 43:1</a> s:w:). At the very end of his life, David realized that he had in fact been redeemed (s:w. <a href='B:110 1:29'>1Ki 1:29</a>). He could give up his spirit to God in death, knowing that He was redeemed from the power of the grave (s:w. <a href='B:230 31:5'>Psa 31:5</a>; <a href='B:230 49:15'>Psa 49:15</a>). His sure hope in the resurrection of the body looked ahead to the attitude with which the Lord Jesus died.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm however clearly applies to the exile, when Judah, the singular tribe, was sent into captivity; the ten tribe kingdom had already gone to Assyria.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Mount Zion, in which You have lived-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Relevant to the exiles, in that Yahweh was no longer living in Zion, the cherubim of glory had departed, as Ezekiel had seen in vision.</p>


text:
<h2>Lift up Your feet on the perpetual ruins-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "Lift up thine hands against their pride continually", which connects better with the second half of the verse.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The evil done in the sanctuary had been done by God; this evil was ultimately from God, although the exiles struggled to believe that (<a href='B:290 45:5-7'>Isa 45:5-7</a>). Therefore He was obviously aware of it. It was their refusal to accept that God had been their enemy and had done the "evil" which led them to later feel He was somehow unaware of it.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This speaks of the Babylonian military standards raised in the temple as glory to their idols, repeated by the Romans in AD70. Israel's enemies are likened to wild beasts roaring; and indeed "the beast" is Israel's neighbours, throughout scripture. But the psalmist appears to ignore the repeated prophetic declaration that this would happen because Judah worshipped idols within the sanctuary, as Ezekiel saw in vision. The psalmist sees only one side of the story- the suffering. The reason for it, and the hope of restoration predicated upon repentance, plays no part in his thinking at this point. And we see that attitude all around us, complaints at Divine judgment and the results of human sin, rather than seeing that suffering in wider spiritual and ethical context:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They behaved like men wielding axes, cutting through a thicket of trees-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that there was absolutely no reverence for the sanctity of the temple. And yet Judah had likewise paid no reverence to that, and so they received an appropriate judgment.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Now they break all its carved work down with hatchet and hammers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "stonecutters". There was a wilful and intentional destruction of the temple. The "carved work" is that of the cherubim and palm trees (s:w. <a href='B:110 6:29'>1Ki 6:29</a>), broken down because it was overlaid with gold (<a href='B:110 6:22'>1Ki 6:22</a>; <a href='B:110 6:32'>1Ki 6:32</a>; <a href='B:110 6:35'>1Ki 6:35</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground, they have profaned the dwelling place of Your Name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This burning of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar is recorded in <a href='B:120 25:9'>2Ki 25:9</a>; <a href='B:140 36:19'>2Ch 36:19</a>. The psalmist complains that "they" had done this, whereas the more spiritual perspective was that God had done these things (<a href='B:310 2:6'>Lam 2:6</a>; <a href='B:310 4:1'>Lam 4:1</a>) as judgment for Judah's sins. All that is said is true, but lacks humility and spiritual perspective.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They said in their heart, We will crush them completely. They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But Yahweh was to be worshipped in Zion. It was the "high places" built ostensibly to worship Him, which had become the places of idolatry for which God's anger came upon His people This is quite overlooked by the writer. But LXX has "They have said in their heart, even all their kindred together, Come, let us abolish the feasts of the Lord from the earth".</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again this was not quite the case. There was a ministry of the true prophets throughout the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, and Ezekiel and others continued the witness afterwards. But this is overlooked in the desire of the author to focus upon the negative and pain as dismal a picture as possible. There were "signs"; for Jeremiah and Ezekiel were men of sign to the Jews. LXX "and God will not know us any more" was a complete denial of the prophetic pleas to know God in repentance, and the clear hope of restoration offered.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The answer to that question is provided in the prophets. It would be until Judah repented. And yet the psalmist overlooks that dimension completely. Just as we can so easily:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Why do You draw back Your hand, even Your right hand? Take it out of Your pocket and consume them!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again as on :10, the answer was that God's hand would again be seen active for His people once they repented. But typical of the secular view, the psalmist expects immediate action from God right now, regardless of any spiritual dimension to the basis of His operations with men.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The midst of the land was Zion, and there He had done great miracles at the time of Hezekiah- which the psalmist believes can be repeated. The tone of the Psalm changes now. The Psalmist has not made a good case in the preceding verses, as noted above. He is simply demanding immediate release from the exile. Although he is spiritually deficient in failing to factor in Israel's sin and the need for repentance, he all the same has a strong personal faith. Whether or not God comes through for His people on a larger scale, "God is my king". And here we have an example for us all. Our struggle with the problem of evil must not be allowed to take away God's salvation history; His apparent failure to save whom and when and how we think He should must never take away from our personal faith in Him.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We also learn here that a man like this psalmist who may be deficient in attitude and understanding (as witnessed in the notes above on :2-11) may still have genuine faith before God.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You divided the sea by Your strength. You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A clear allusion to God's division of the Red Sea and destruction of the "monsters" of Egypt. The chariots of Pharaoh are likened to sea monsters.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again the power of Egypt is likened to a mythical creature. People of the time found the sea mysterious, and believed in a vast sea dragon lurking there which was invincible, rather like folks tend to believe in a supernatural devil figure. The simple point was that God has and can destroy such entities at ease, to the point that effectively God's people need not believe in them. LXX "Thou didst give him for meat to the Ethiopian nations" perhaps imagines the local peoples picking up the spoil of the Egyptian chariots after the Red Sea drowned them all.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Alluding to the provision of living water in the wilderness. The same language is used of how God could dry up the rivers around Babylon to destroy her. He did this, through the Medes, but most of Judah preferred to remain in Babylon rather than obey the commands to flee out of her at that point.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The day is Yours, the night is also Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This could continue the allusion to God's care for Israel in the wilderness in :15, this time referring to the provision of light by night and protection from the sun in the day time. Or it could be that the Psalmist, struggling with God's apparent injustice and lack of activity, reflects that of course God is active; for the passing of day and night is evidence enough of that.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have set all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As discussed on :16, any illusion that God is somehow inactive is ended by considering the passage of the seasons, all designed and activated by Him. Judah in exile were at the very boundaries of the eretz / land / earth promised to Abraham, and God had decreed that too.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Remember this, that the enemy has mocked You, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again it is inappropriate to suggest that God has as it were forgotten anything. A more mature perspective would have known that finally "God is not mocked" (<a href='B:550 6:7'>Gal 6:7</a>). But as noted on :12, a man like this psalmist who may be deficient in attitude and understanding (as witnessed in the notes above on :2-11) may still have genuine faith before God:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t deliver the soul of Your dove to wild beasts, don’t forget the life of Your poor forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again, Israel's neighbouring enemies are the "wild beasts" of scripture. This imagery is consistent. The argument could be seen as manipulative; for God had taught in His own law that the poor should be cared for and redeemed, yet He appears not to redeem His own "poor". Judah in exile were major sinners, as Ezekiel makes clear. But the psalmist likes to compare them to innocent dove. See on :18.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Honour Your covenant, for haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land-</p><h2> This fails to appreciate the clear teaching of Hosea, Jeremiah and Ezekiel to the exiles; that they had broken the old covenant, and their only hope was to repent and accept the new covenant which was offered. But this wonderful "hope of Israel" fell on deaf ears, because they were so obsessed with a return to how things had been, under the same covenant which was now broken.</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t let the oppressed return ashamed; let the poor and needy praise Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David had felt "oppressed" whilst in exile from Saul (s:w. <a href='B:230 9:9'>Psa 9:9</a>; <a href='B:230 10:18'>Psa 10:18</a>), and his Psalms show him to have been the "poor and needy" who was ever praising Yahweh's Name (s:w. <a href='B:230 40:17'>Psa 40:17</a>; <a href='B:230 70:5'>Psa 70:5</a>). David is set up as the programmatic example for the exiles. But they had to follow his path of humility and repentance.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Arise, God! Plead Your own cause. Remember how the foolish man mocks You all day-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmist imagines God as in court, saying nothing and being judged by those who mocked Him. But this again reflects a lack of faith and understanding that God is the ultimate judge, and that finally "God is not mocked" (<a href='B:550 6:7'>Gal 6:7</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. To the tune of Do Not Destroy. A Psalm by Asaph. A song-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We give thanks to You, God. We give thanks, for Your Name is near. Men tell about Your wondrous works-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Literally, 'next to', 'neighbour / relative to'. This is how close God feels to the broken hearted and crushed; and conversely, how far He is from the self satisfied and self congratulatory, 'the strong' in secular terms. It is this feature of Yahweh which makes Him unique; no other God has this characteristic of 'nearness' (s:w. <a href='B:50 4:7'>Deu 4:7</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You are not alone, I am not alone; “For I am with you”. God is with us for us in His Son. Of course, we must draw near to Him (<a href='B:230 73:28'>Psa 73:28</a>); and yet He is already near, not far from every one of us (<a href='B:510 17:27'>Act 17:27</a>). David often speaks of drawing near to God, and yet he invites God to draw near to him (<a href='B:230 69:18'>Psa 69:18</a>). Yet David also recognizes that God “is” near already (<a href='B:230 75:1'>Psa 75:1</a>). I take all this to mean that like us, David recognized that God “is” near, and yet wished God to make His presence real to him. Truly can we pray David’s prayers. So often, prayer is described as coming near to God (<a href='B:230 119:169'>Psa 119:169</a> etc:)- and yet God “is” near already. Prayer, therefore, is a way of making us realize the presence of the God who is always present. </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When I choose the appointed time, I will judge blamelessly-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggest later in this Psalm that the initial application was to the Assyrian encirclement of Jerusalem at the time of Hezekiah. "The appointed time" is a phrase used about the feasts, and there is reason to believe that God delivered Jerusalem at Passover time. This was the "set time to favour Zion" (<a href='B:230 102:13'>Psa 102:13</a> s:w:).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The earth and all its inhabitants quake. I firmly uphold its pillars. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Inhabitants" of the earth / land quaking or "melting away" is the very phrase used about the inhabitants of Canaan melting away after the miracle at the Red Sea and its associated earthquakes (s:w. <a href='B:20 15:15'>Exo 15:15</a>; <a href='B:60 2:9'>Jos 2:9</a>; <a href='B:60 2:24'>Jos 2:24</a>). The implication that God was going to dramatically deliver His people, and then subdue the entire eretz promised to Abraham under them. Despite this quaking, the pillars of the land, as it were, would be held firm by God. His people would be preserved. But this great possibility and potential was not used by those who entered Canaan, nor was it used in Hezekiah's time; for instead of exalting Israel's God in the entire eretz, Hezekiah instead went the way of the surrounding nations:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I said to the arrogant, Don’t boast!; I said to the wicked, Don’t lift up the horn-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This would refer to the proud, boastful words of Rabshakeh outside the walls of Jerusalem.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t lift up your horn on high, don’t speak with a stiff neck-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is addressed to the entity which has "horns" which Yahweh would break (:10). The Assyrian enemy of Judah is depicted as a beast with horns, and this symbology continues throughout the Bible. The beast is the latter day Assyrian. The proud speaker would likely refer to Rabshakeh speaking loudly and proudly about the failure of Israel's God to save from the Assyrians. This rebuke of the Assyrian was uttered on God's behalf by the faithful remnant within Jerusalem at that time.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor yet from the south, comes exaltation-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The implication therefore is that exaltation to safety and deliverance comes from the "north", literally "the hidden place", put here for "God". Another take is that the Psalm may have been written or applied to the time when Jerusalem was surrounded by the Assyrian armies. They had approached from the north. There was no good looking for help to come from the other points of the compass. All the nations to whom Judah had looked for help would not deliver her. "Exaltation" is used by David in <a href='B:230 18:48'>Psa 18:48</a> to mean deliverance from enemies.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God right now puts down one and lifts up another– all of which He will also due at the last day (<a href='B:490 14:10'>Luk 14:10</a> alludes here). 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>); 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>.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For in the hand of Yahweh there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out; indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs-</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 wicked of the earth" is the term used for the Babylonians in <a href='B:330 7:21'>Eze 7:21</a>. The imagery of Babylon being given a cup of wine to drink as judgment is developed in the later prophets.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Taking the cup of wine is a double symbol: of blessing (<a href='B:530 10:16'>1Co 10:16</a>; <a href='B:530 11:25'>1Co 11:25</a>), and of condemnation (<a href='B:230 60:3'>Psa 60:3</a>; <a href='B:230 75:8'>Psa 75:8</a>; <a href='B:290 51:17'>Isa 51:17</a>; <a href='B:300 25:15'>Jer 25:15</a>; <a href='B:730 14:10'>Rev 14:10</a>; <a href='B:730 16:19'>Rev 16:19</a>). Why this use of a double symbol? Surely the Lord designed this sacrament in order to highlight the two ways which are placed before us by taking that cup: it is either to our blessing, or to our condemnation. Each breaking of bread is a further stage along one of those two roads.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But I will declare this forever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Eternal praise to the God who saved spiritually weak Jacob is how David perceived eternity. "Declaring" 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.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Note how the restoration Psalm <a href='B:230 76:1-5'>Psa 76:1-5</a> speaks in the prophetic perfect of a great battle at Jerusalem which Yahweh would win. Perhaps this speaks of the same battle spoken of in Ezekiel 38, which could have come true in God's prophetic program, had the people rebuilt the city as they should have done.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In Judah God is known, His name is great in Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is one of the many passages where God emphasizes the essential unity of Israel and Judah through the device of parallelism. Here Judah and Israel are paralleled, and therefore making His Name great is paralleled with knowing Him. To know God is to have a relationship with Him which issues in glorifying His Name. The idea may be that God's Name is being made great, i:e. praised, because God has made Himself known by a great deliverance of Judah- probably referring to the destruction of the Assyrian invaders in Hezekiah's time. I have noted throughout the Psalms that there is sometimes a pairing of Psalms, and Psalms 75 is clearly in the same context.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>His tabernacle is also in Salem; His dwelling place in Zion-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Salem" is used for "Jerusalem" because the idea was that now the temple was in peace, now that the Assyrians had been destroyed.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There He broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield and the sword and the weapons of war. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Not an arrow was shot by the Assyrians in Zion (<a href='B:290 37:33'>Isa 37:33</a>); for "there" they were destroyed by just one Angel slaying 185,000 soldiers. "Arrows" here can be translated "lightnings". So the idea may be that God destroyed all the fearsome weaponry which struck fear into the hearts of the Israelites.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Glorious are You and excellent, more than mountains of game-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Mountains" may be an intensive plural for the one great mountain, Zion, where in the temple treasuries the "prey" ("game") of booty from the destroyed Assyrian army was laid up. But far beyond that was the glory which God brought to Himself by the defeat of the Assyrians. And for this, Yahweh was to be "feared" or 'made glorious' by the surrounding Gentiles (s:w. :7).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Valiant men lie plundered-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Plundered by the inhabitants of Zion coming out to strip the corpses of the 185,000 soldiers slain by the Angel.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The judgment of these Gentiles is presented as an eternal sleep. Death was therefore understood by the psalmist as unconsciousness, and eternal death was the punishment of these people rather than eternal conscious torment.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>At Your rebuke, God of Jacob, both chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the language of the victory at the Red Sea ["rebuke::. chariot and horse::. cast::. the deep"], but it is reapplied to the Assyrian defeat. The psalmist perceives a continuity in God's actions. And as noted on :5, the judgment of the invaders was eternal sleep, unconsciousness rather than any idea of conscious torment.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You, even You, are to be feared. Who can stand in Your sight when You are angry?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Feared" is s:w. "excellent" in :4. Yahweh was to be "feared" or 'made glorious' by the surrounding Gentiles; but instead, Hezekiah fraternized with them and accepted their gods, rather than bringing them to fear Israel's God, knowing that they must make peace with Him rather than face His anger.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You pronounced judgment from heaven: the earth feared and was silent-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A reference to the judgment from heaven being operationalized by one Angel going forth from heaven to slay the 185,000 Assyrian soldiers encircling Jerusalem. The intention was that the entire eretz promised to Abraham would fear God and be silent before Him because of thIsa. But Hezekiah tragically failed to make use of that potential. The kingdom prophecies in earlier Isaiah could have come to fulfilment in him, in some form; but he would not.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>when God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the earth. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The judgment of the Assyrians was a saving of the "afflicted ones". It was a foretaste of the day when God shall finally arise in judgment, and the afflicted / meek shall eternally inherit the earth (<a href='B:230 37:11'>Psa 37:11</a>; <a href='B:230 37:29'>Psa 37:29</a> s:w:). <a href='B:290 11:4'>Isa 11:4</a> spoke of how the Messianic king would judge the abusers of "the meek / afflicted ones of the earth" (s:w:). This "Kingdom" prophecy could have come true in Hezekiah's time, but he sadly was happy to have 15 years to enjoy himself in mortal life, and turned away from the Kingdom potential.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Surely the wrath of man praises You. The survivors of Your wrath are restrained-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that after the outpouring of wrath, those who survive it will praise Yahweh. This is what the prophetic intention was for the aftermath of the destruction of the Assyrians and later, after the fall of Babylon. But Hezekiah and later the exiles let the baton drop and didn't fulfil the potential. The whole scenario was reapplied and rescheduled to the last days. "Restrained" is the usual word for "girded", and it parallel with "praises You"; so the idea may be an allusion to the metaphor of being 'girded with praise'.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Make vows to Yahweh your God, and fulfil them!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>An invitation to the surrounding nations to enter into covenant relationship with Yahweh as their God.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let all of His neighbours bring presents to Him who is to be feared-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was fulfilled at Hezekiah's time, but Hezekiah misused this and didn't bring those neighbours to Israel's God as was prophetically intended.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>My cry goes to God! Indeed, I cry to God for help, and for Him to listen to me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm is similar to Habakkuk 3, which is a lament of God's apparent inaction at the time of the Babylonian devastation of Judah, and the context may be the same here. And there was the same sense that God wasn't hearing prayer. </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t retract. My soul refused to be comforted-</p><h2>The intention of David's Psalms were to share his experience of God's grace and salvation with others. The idea is '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>.</h2>&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'>I remember God, and I groan-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the word used of the exiles groaning and apparently getting no relief (<a href='B:290 59:11'>Isa 59:11</a>). The Psalm may have begun with David expressing his groaning to God (s:w. <a href='B:230 42:11'>Psa 42:11</a>; <a href='B:230 43:5'>Psa 43:5</a>). But the truth was that God likewise groaned for the suffering of His people (s:w. <a href='B:300 31:20'>Jer 31:20</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted above, this may have begun as a Psalm recording how David complained (s:w. <a href='B:230 55:17'>Psa 55:17</a>) and felt overwhelmed (s:w. <a href='B:230 61:2'>Psa 61:2</a>; <a href='B:230 142:3'>Psa 142:3</a>; <a href='B:230 143:4'>Psa 143:4</a>). It becomes the basis for how Habakkuk likewise 'complained' (see on :1) regarding the Babylonian dominance of Judah.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You hold my eyelids open. I am so troubled that I can’t speak-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In deep sickness or depression it can simply be that we find formal, verbalized prayer impossible. <a href='B:230 77:4'>Psa 77:4</a> speaks of this: "I am so troubled that I cannot speak" (formally, to God). It's in those moments that comfort can be taken from the fact that it is our spirit which is mediated as it were to God. Tribulation is read as prayer- hence even the Lord's suffering on the cross, "the affliction of the afflicted", was read by the Father as the Lord Jesus 'crying unto' the Father (<a href='B:230 22:24'>Psa 22:24</a>). This is sure comfort to those so beset by illness and physical pain that they lack the clarity of mind to formally pray- their very affliction is read by the Father as their prayer.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We must enquire why the Psalmist felt so troubled and overwhelmed when thinking about God and meditating upon the present exile of His people. The answer may be in that he perceived that all this had come upon them for their sins, and restoration would only come from repentance; which seemed very far from the exiles. He comes to realize that they should cease bemoaning their lot, and accept what the prophetic explanation for their sufferings- they had grievously sinned. This would explain why upon thinking about these things, he feels unable to talk to God, just as Daniel felt when realizing the same things.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmist has realized that the exile is due to the sin of his people, and the full enormity of it now dawns upon him (see on :4). But he considers God's saving hand in history, and takes comfort from the fact that God still acts for His people even when they are far from Him and impenitent. His purpose is not ultimately thwarted by human sin.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I remember my song in the night. I consider in my own heart; my spirit diligently inquires-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may preface a quotation from one of his songs of the night, which we have in :7-9. And in that song he asks the questions we too have done at times: Will God's whole salvation project with humanity be declared a failure because of the persistent human propensity to sin and reject Him?</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Will the Lord reject us forever? Will He no more be gracious?-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The questions of :7-9 are perhaps rhetorical questions, intentionally begging the answers "No!". His "song in the night" (see on :6) which we have in :7-9 was not therefore a song of doubt, but rather of praise, confident that God will not reject His people, and that His grace is eternal- as the Psalms elsewhere celebrate.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Has His grace vanished forever? Does His promise fail for generations?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God's grace is eternal (s:w. <a href='B:230 18:50'>Psa 18:50</a>; <a href='B:230 52:8'>Psa 52:8</a>). His promises will not fail (<a href='B:50 31:6'>Deu 31:6</a>; <a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a>; <a href='B:110 8:25'>1Ki 8:25</a>; <a href='B:230 89:33'>Psa 89:33</a>). The answer was "of course not". Jeremiah finally came to accept, even in the ruins of Jerusalem, that His purpose would not fail (<a href='B:310 3:22'>Lam 3:22</a>). And this "song in the night" of this psalmist is saying the same.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He, in anger, withheld His compassion? Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :6, the questions of :7-9 were not doubts, but rather rhetorical questions which were answered with a resounding "No!" each time. The connection with Habakkuk 3 (see on :1) is in the conclusion that in anger God remembers mercy (<a href='B:420 3:2'>Hab 3:2</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Then I thought, I will appeal to this: the years of the right hand of the Most High-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Hebrew is difficult, but the sense seems to be that the appeal or prayer of the psalmist will result in as the LXX puts it "the change of the right hand of the Most High". God is open to change, He is highly responsive to human prayer and repentance; and that was exactly what was needed to bring about the restoration of Judah.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will remember Yah’s deeds; for I will remember Your wonders of old-</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. As explained earlier on this Psalm, God's wonders of old were in that He had worked with an impenitent and apostate people, towards their salvation. This is the wonder of His history with men, and it is this history which is developed in Psalms 78. I suggest that again we have a pairing of the Psalms, here of Psalms 77, 78. The salvation history outlined in Psalms 78 is a development of this theme of Psalms 77. Hence <a href='B:230 77:20'>Psa 77:20</a> ends with Israel being led as a flock, and Psalms 78 continues this theme.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will also meditate on all Your work, and consider Your doings-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As in <a href='B:230 143:5'>Psa 143:5</a>, the Divine work and doings being considered are His historical grace to His people. For all His work for Israel was by grace, seeing that for the most part they didn't strongly believe in Him and were unfaithful to His covenant; and yet He had still worked for them so mightily, towards their salvation.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your way, God, is in the sanctuary-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is the same phrase as in <a href='B:290 35:8'>Isa 35:8</a> "The way of holiness", the path back to Zion which God would create for those who wanted to travel it. So "in" could as well be "to":&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>What god is great like God?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The uniqueness of Yahweh, in the context, is that He continues to work for His sinful people by grace, doing great things for them; whereas pagan gods were thought to disown their people for any disloyalty.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You are the God who does wonders-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The wonders in the context are God's desire to continue working with His people even when they are grossly disloyal to Him. It is the wonder of His grace which is in view, and not just His material miracles.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have made Your strength known among the peoples-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God's strength was declared at the exodus (s:w. <a href='B:20 15:2'>Exo 15:2</a>; <a href='B:20 15:13'>Exo 15:13</a>) and the surrounding nations knew this, as witnessed by Rahab's words to the spies. The redemption from Babylon was intended to have the same effect, resulting in the surrounding nations 'knowing' Yahweh as their God. But this didn't happen, for Judah didn't repent, most of them remained in Babylon and refused their great redemption, and continued worshipping the local gods.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have redeemed Your people with Your arm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This reference to both Judah and the ten tribes, "Ephraim and Manasseh", reflects the prophetic intention for the regathering of both kingdoms from captivity. Tragically, the ten tribes didn't respond, and most of Judah preferred Babylon to Zion. God's "arm" redeemed them all from Egypt, despite their worshipping of idols and carrying of the tabernacle of their idols through the desert. And that arm was potentially outstretched to redeem them from Babylon. "Redemption" is a major theme of the prophecies of the restoration in later Isaiah.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The waters saw You, God, the waters saw You, and they writhed, the depths also convulsed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The miraculous redemption of Israel from Egypt could have been the prototype for the restoration of the exiles from Babylon. This point is frequently made in later Isaiah. But the restoration wasn't accompanied by such miracles; because most of Judah didn't want to participate, and remained in Babylon. This is a frequent tragedy in God's dealing with us all; such huge Divine potentials are wasted by human indifference and shortsightedness. The waters of the Red Sea are spoken of as living entities, because those "waters" are intended to be understood as representing the nations who would have fled before God's saving purpose of restoring His people to their land.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It is also possible to understand the apparent "living" nature of the waters because there is an "Angel of the waters" (<a href='B:730 16:5'>Rev 16:5</a>). That a specific Angel controls “the waters” in an area is also implied by the way flood waters are described as praising God (<a href='B:230 42:8'>Psa 42:8</a>; <a href='B:230 148:7'>Psa 148:7</a>), water trembling at God’s presence (<a href='B:230 77:17'>Psa 77:17</a>; <a href='B:420 3:10'>Hab 3:10</a>), and the deep waters mourning (<a href='B:330 31:15'>Eze 31:15</a>). These figures of speech may in fact be based upon the real existence of a personal “Angel of the waters”.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The clouds poured out water. The skies resounded with thunder, Your arrows also flashed around-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This continues the description of 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>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind, the lightnings lit up the world, the earth trembled and shook-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The driving back of the Red Sea, and its return, is explained in Exodus by a "wind" (<a href='B:20 14:21'>Exo 14:21</a>). But here we find that the wind was in fact a whirlwind, associated with an earthquake and lightnings- all language of a theophany.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Your way was through the sea, Your paths through the great waters; Your footsteps were not known-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The allusion is to the way that there are no footsteps seen in water. God's ways are known by their effect, but the process is often not discernible. "Footsteps" is literally "heels"; the reference is to <a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a>. The seed of the serpent was being trodden underfoot in primary fulfilment of that prophecy. It was Israel who walked through the great waters, but the waters returned and there was no trace of their passage. This speaks of the apparent mystery of God's ways; <a href='B:500 3:8'>Joh 3:8</a> may even allude here.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A contemplation by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</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. Asaph says he will “utter hidden things</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>what our fathers have told us</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>we will not hide them from their children” (:2,4 NIV). He speaks as if these things had been known by the fathers but not repeated to Asaph’s generation, and now Asaph as a teaching priest was going to teach them to the present generation. This would imply that after initially pining for Zion, the Jewish community in Babylon got on with life and forget their historical roots; for “the things” of which the Psalm speaks are a recounting of the covenant history of God with His people. In this context Asaph reminds them that Yahweh had chosen Zion for His temple (:60,68), and now at the restoration “The Lord awoke from sleep, as a man wakes” (:65). Asaph warns them that He has “rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not chose the tribe of Ephraim” (i:e. the 10 tribe Kingdom had been scattered and were not returning at that time), but he chose the tribe of Judah”. The final verses must surely be read as prophetic perfect, i:e. speaking about what was going to happen as if it had: “He beat back his enemies, he put them to everlasting shame</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He built his sanctuary</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>he chose David his servant (the same phrase recurs in Ezekiel’s temple prophecies)</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> and David shepherded them with integrity of heart” (:67-72). It could have been so that the surrounding Arab enemies of Judah were eternally destroyed (this has never yet happened, so it can’t be describing a previous historical event), the temple built on Zion, and a David-like Messiah appeared. This was potentially possible; but it wasn’t to be. The people preferred to live in ignorance of Asaph’s appeal to their previous history:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hear my teaching, my people; turn your ears to the words of my mouth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The initial author of this Psalm appears to be David, at the time when the sanctuary was moved from Shiloh in Ephraim (<a href='B:60 18:1'>Jos 18:1</a>) to Zion in the tribe of Judah. The Psalm emphasizes the rejection of Ephraim, the largest tribe; and the historical account finishes with David. This suggests at best it was written by Solomon, or in his time; but most of the Psalms appear to have originated with David. There is a political pretext to it, however- which is to underline that Judah is the royal tribe and not Ephraim, which was the largest tribe. And the king of the kingdom is to be David and his line, not anyone else. In this opening verse, David appeals to "my people" to accept his appeal to accept him as their king, and his interpretation of the history of Ephraim and Judah.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings of old-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>What follows is a salvation history of Israel. History is a riddle or parable, but it is uttered or revealed by appreciating that it is really a reflection of God's desire to save and show grace to His sinful people. This is the ultimate interpretation of human history.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that David is going to reveal the riddle of the historical stories which Israel had heard and known from their fathers (:2).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We will not hide them from their children-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "They were not hid from their children to a second generation; the fathers declaring the praises of the Lord".</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, His strength, and His wondrous works that He has done-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on Psalms 77, the intention of Israel's history is to reveal Yahweh's amazing grace and patience to such a weak and sinful people. His strength was in His grace. The great physical miracles were noteworthy even moreso for their revelation of God's grace unto salvation.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a teaching in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was to be the lead characteristic of the family of Abraham; the true seed would make known God's teaching to their children (<a href='B:10 18:18'>Gen 18:18</a>). Even in Old Testament times, the basic idea of spreading God’s ways was implicit in God’s commands, although each time it seems to have met with resistance. Adam and Eve were to multiply and fill the earth, but it seems they didn’t even have intercourse , or at least Eve wasn’t pregnant, before they sinned. Noah was given the same command after the flood, but the next we know he is lying there dead drunk. And the incident at Babel shows that effectively, his children had not taken seriously the command to spread throughout the earth. Israel were to be a missionary nation, but they so evidently failed in thIsa. The law given to Israel was intended to be a “testimony”, a witness, as the Hebrew word implies. By living out that law, Israel were to have been a witness to the world, a light to the Gentiles (<a href='B:230 78:5'>Psa 78:5</a>). The prophets are full of invitations for the whole ends of the earth to turn to Israel’s God, yet the nation produced few real missionaries.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David is saying that "we" (:4), he and his descendants, would continue declaring God's mighty acts to their children. But he is building up to a contrast with the descendants of Ephraim, whom he will insist had forgotten God's mighty acts, implying they had not taught them to their children. David is correct in viewing attitudes to teaching children as a highly significant indicator as to whether we are the seed of Abraham (<a href='B:10 18:18'>Gen 18:18</a>). But his own house / family was not right with God either, so it seems David is madly pressing ahead with a line of reasoning to justify the establishment of his family line and tribe before God, rather than that of Ephraim, the largest tribe.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments-</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.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>and might not be as their fathers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>To condemn and differ from your fathers was a radically counter-cultural position in David's world.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A stubborn and rebellious generation-</p><h2>The "stubborn and rebellious" were to have been disciplined and rejected from the family (s:w. <a href='B:50 21:18'>Deu 21:18</a>). But lack of obedience to this led to the attitudes of youth becoming the hallmark of an entire generation, as we see today. The grace of it all is seen in how God gave gifts and His Spirit to His people "to the rebellious also" (<a href='B:230 68:18'>Psa 68:18</a> s:w:), that He might dwell among&nbsp; them. Israel both before (<a href='B:290 1:23'>Isa 1:23</a>; <a href='B:300 5:23'>Jer 5:23</a>) and after the exile (<a href='B:290 65:2'>Isa 65:2</a>) were rebellious. David's hope for his natural seed wasn't realized:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The heart and the spirit are clearly paralleled here. The gift of a holy spirit is therefore the gift of a psychology, an attitude of heart, which is what we all so desperately need. Yet here, the essence of their rebellion was in their hearts. "Steadfast" is s:w. "established" in the promise to David about his kingdom being established by God (<a href='B:100 7:16'>2Sa 7:16</a>). The idea is that they did not allow their heart or spirit to be established / stabilized by God; the same word is translated "nurse" (<a href='B:100 4:4'>2Sa 4:4</a>). He is willing and eager to confirm the hearts of men; but that generation didn't allow Him to do so. The word is also translated 'to have faith', and in this sense faith is also not of ourselves, but is the gift of God to those who want it (<a href='B:560 2:8'>Eph 2:8</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea is that they had the weapons, the potential, but turned back. It is our wasting of Divine potential which is indeed so grievous. But what is the historical reference? There appears to be none, unless Ephraim's general failure to drive out the Canaanites is referenced. But that was true for many of the tribes. There is a reference to some individual Ephraimites being defeated by the Philistines of Gath (<a href='B:130 7:20-22'>1Ch 7:20-22</a>). David instead gloriously conquered the Philistine of Gath, Goliath. I suggest that David is slanting history to present Ephraim as far more sinful than Judah, to justify his moving the ark from Shiloh in Ephraim (<a href='B:60 18:1'>Jos 18:1</a>) to Jerusalem in Judah. He is painting Ephraim's failures as of a far worse nature than those of Judah and the rest of Israel- in order to establish his point, that he and his tribe had been chosen. Twisting the incident in 1 Chronicles 7 as if it involved all Ephraim is typical of thIsa. Indeed God did choose David and his line. But that didn't need David or Solomon to justify it by presenting themselves as righteous and the rest of Israel as so deeply unworthy and sinful. Likewise our salvation is by the grave of Divine election, but that doesn't mean that we have to pull down others to demonstrate our own worthiness.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The observation has been made that :8 and :10 flow on together and the rhythm of the passage is interrupted by :9; as if this history of God's grace with His people has been used by David or Solomon and had had the rhetoric against Ephraim crudely inserted into it at various points, in order to justify David's line. See on :17.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in His law-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is presented as at variance with the lead characteristic of the seed of Abraham, which was to keep and teach the covenant to others (:5); and which David is insisting he and his line will do.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They forgot His doings, His wondrous works that He had shown them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The contrast is with :4, where the true seed of Abraham are to declare "His wondrous works" and not forget them. Our attitudes to teaching God's ways to our children and others remains the litmus test of being within the covenant (see on :5).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He did marvellous things in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "In the plain of Tanes", which was the capital of Egypt, where Pharaoh's palace was, where Moses and Aaron did the miracles. The "fathers" have been defined in :8 as disbelieving. Yet despite this, they experienced miracles and deliverance (:13). Again the idea is that the rebellious were delivered by grace, and the mystery of history is that God has repeatedly saved the undeserving:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He split the sea, and caused them to pass through. He made the waters stand as a heap-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "he made the waters to stand as in a bottle". This great deliverance looks forward to Christian baptism (<a href='B:530 10:1'>1Co 10:1</a>). This great salvation was to the "fathers" (:12), who have been defined in :8 as disbelieving. So this then refers to a salvation by grace. It was of God's 'causing' that they passed through; for they were fearful and seemed to prefer death or return to Egypt, than passing through the waters. Our salvation likewise is of God's causing (see on :8).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the daytime He also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggest that again we have a pairing of the Psalms, here of Psalms 77, 78. The salvation history outlined in Psalms 78 is a development of this theme of Psalms 77. Hence <a href='B:230 77:20'>Psa 77:20</a> ends with Israel being "led" as a flock, and Psalms 78 continues this theme (<a href='B:230 78:14'>Psa 78:14</a>; <a href='B:230 78:53'>Psa 78:53</a> s:w:).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The generosity of God to those disbelieving 'fathers' is emphasized. They were fed to the full, and given abundant water, which tasted like cool water springing up from the depths of the earth. The splitting of the Red Sea (:13 s:w:)continued in essence, with the daily splitting of the rock, as it were, from which their water source flowed. God's redemptive action was not only seen in bringing us from the world (Egypt) to the waters of baptism and onto the Kingdom path; but that same activity is in fact a daily occurrence.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The verbs in this section speak of the incessant activity of God; splitting, causing, bringing forth, leading, feeding, giving to drink. And this same level of hyperactivity is going in our lives as we are led towards the Kingdom after accepting baptism.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet they still went on sinning against Him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "they" in the context is Ephraim (:9). But these were the sins of the majority of Israel. So it would appear that David is painting Ephraim as bad as possible, blaming them for Israel's sins in the desert, in an attempt to justify his own kingdom of Judah. And yet as noted on :7, it could be argued that we have here in this Psalm a salvation history of Israel, into which has been inserted rhetoric against Ephraim. That rhetoric inserted in :9 then throws the rest of the Psalm out of kilter; because fairly obviously, we are reading here in this section of the general sins of Israel in the desert, rather than of Ephraim alone.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They put God to the test in their heart by asking food according to their lust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalms, along with the entire Biblical record, emphasize the importance of the heart. Their request for food was a testing of God in their hearts. Spiritual mindedness is of the essence; the theme of the spirit is therefore very major in the New Testament. But it reflects the emphasis of the Old Testament upon the huge significance of the human heart and thinking. This was in radical contrast to the way in which religions of the time focused purely upon the external.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, they spoke against God. They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This happened to David when fleeing from Absalom, when a kind supporter gave David a feast in the wilderness, as he celebrates in Psalms 23. Perhaps a later hand [Solomon?] has included this in order to present David as the believer, compared to Ephraim.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Behold, He struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Will He provide flesh for His people?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "or prepare a table for his people". See on :19. The idea seems to be that they tested God (:18) by challenging Him to not merely produce food but a feast for them in the desert. Their argument was that producing gushing water from the rock was but a minor miracle; but could He produce flesh and bread? This was asked without faith (:23), not as a request, but as a reflection of their cynical lack of trust and faith.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Therefore Yahweh heard, and was angry. A fire was kindled against Jacob, anger also went up against Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The reference is to the burning of God's wrath at Taberah. If the "they" in the previous verses is intended to refer to Ephraim (as the flow of the grammar from :9 suggests it does), then David is trying to wrongly blame Israel's misfortunes upon Ephraim. This was an exaggeration and reflects David by all means marshalling all possible excuses for making his Judah the lead tribe rather than Ephraim.</p>


text:
<h2>because they didn’t believe in God, and didn’t trust in His salvation-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Although God opened the doors of Heaven to rain manna upon Israel, they “trusted not in his salvation”. The manna, as in John 6, became a symbol of their salvation; and yet the repetitious ordinariness of it all meant they missed the point. Every time we read God’s word, take again the bread of Heaven each week, the more familiar we are with it, the more likelihood there is that this can happen to us:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "yet" continues the theme of God's grace. Although they didn't believe nor trust (:22), yet God poured His gifts upon them. The "command" was to the Angels, who produced the food (:25).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He rained down manna on them to eat, and gave them food from the sky-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "The bread of heaven", a phrase clearly alluded to by the Lord Jesus concerning Himself, and used by Him to represent God's salvation. This was rained upon them; just as the water was abundant and the food fully satisfied them. This amazing outpouring of grace was given although they didn't believe nor trust (:22), and this was the background to God's gift of His Son, "the bread of heaven".</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Man ate the bread of angels; He sent them food to the full-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :29. The bread was created by the Angels, who had been commanded to bring it for Israel (see on :23). But the word translated "angels" here is not malak. It rather means 'the mighty ones'. It parallels "food to the full"; they were given a feast, fit for the great and mighty. Such was God's grace to those who didn't believe in Him (:22) and mocked whether He could provide any more than free water (:21).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He caused the east wind to blow in the sky, by His power He guided the south wind-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The idea may be that the quails were blown in by a south easterly wind. He had likewise caused the east wind to operate in bringing locusts upon Egypt and in causing the miracle at the Red Sea. The Hebrew idea of "spirit" and "wind" is connected, and God makes His Angels winds (<a href='B:230 104:4'>Psa 104:4</a>). Clearly He was using Angels to bring about these miracles with winds; see on :23:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He rained also flesh on them as the dust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The raining down of quails was again typically generous, just as the water was abundant, the food fully satisfied them "to the full" (:25).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Winged birds as the sand of the seas-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Appropriate, seeing that the seed of Abraham were to be as the sand of the sea and dust of the land. Clearly there was here a reference to the primary fulfilment of the promises to Abraham. It was always a case of 'now but not yet'; all God's plans for salvation have some primary fulfilment in this life.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He let them fall in the midst of their camp, around their dwelling places-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet again God's grace is emphasized, because the quail dropped right next to their tents. They just had to pick them up and cook them, rather than having to wander around the desert picking them up. And this was all for those who refused to trust and believe in Him (:22) and mocked whether He could provide any more than free water (:21).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So they ate, and were well filled; He gave them their own desire-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The complete satisfaction and filling of the Israelites was quite a theme (:25 also), looking forward to how the Lord's later feeding miracles left the people completely satisfied. It is a theme of the Bible that in essence, God gives men their own desires, just as the prodigal son was given what he wrongfully demanded. Here, Israel lusted (s:w. <a href='B:40 11:4'>Num 11:4</a>) and God gave them what they lusted after. This is to point up the huge importance of our innermost desires, our heart, our dominant passions- being upon the things of God and His Kingdom. David could say that all his desire was for the things of God (s:w. <a href='B:230 38:9'>Psa 38:9</a>; <a href='B:290 26:8'>Isa 26:8</a>). More than anything else we should desire to please Him and be in His Kingdom. And all who thus love the Lord's appearing will be eternally with Him (<a href='B:620 4:8'>2Ti 4:8</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They didn’t turn from their cravings. Their food was yet in their mouths-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Those who lusted for meat were given it; yet “they were not estranged from their lust” (AV):&nbsp; Sin never satisfies. Giving in to temptation will not lead to the craving being permanently resolved.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their fattest, and struck down the young men of Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Significantly, it was the "fattest" who complained about lack of food. God had not let them really suffer from lack of food. And it is those fat ones who are particularly recorded as being struck down. "Struck down" is often used in the sense of making to bow down in homage (s:w. <a href='B:230 72:9'>Psa 72:9</a>; <a href='B:230 95:6'>Psa 95:6</a>). Perhaps there is the hint that the younger ones repented:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in His wondrous works-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Those "wondrous works" typically refer to God's saving miracles especially at the Red Sea. Despite being taught that God is for real, they refused to learn the lessons of their wonderful history. The problem was in their hearts, their attitude of mind deep within them. For Israel refused to be obedient, were stiff-necked, because they were "not mindful of Your wonders" (<a href='B:160 9:17'>Neh 9:17</a>):&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Therefore He consumed their days in vanity, and their years in terror-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "anxiety". That vanity and anxiety which fills the lives of those who don't want God is in fact given by Him. Again we see evidence of God's ability to work directly upon human hearts, positively [by the Holy Spirit] and [in this case] negatively.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When He slew them, then they inquired after Him; they relented and sought God earnestly-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This could refer to the time of the judges, but in :40 we are still as it were in the wilderness with Israel, so I suggest this refers to their occasional responses to God during the various judgments in the desert. But this earnest seeking of God was just for a moment as they faced judgment. For generally they did not seek Him (<a href='B:520 3:11'>Rom 3:11</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :34, this was but a passing awareness; for the wilderness generation, and Israel generally, did not remember God as their redeemer. "The most high God" could suggest that they believed in many gods, but in their desperate moments, recognized Yahweh as the "most high" of them all. And this was why they did not permanently have Yahweh as their only rock. Let us remember that Israel carried the tabernacle of their god Remphan through the desert as well as that of Yahweh.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But they flattered Him with their mouth, and lied to Him with their tongue-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The language of flattery and deceit could suggest that God was so in love with them that He as it were restrained His omniscience, just as at times He restrains His omnipotence; in order to enter fully into relationship with His people, in real time (in human terms).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they faithful in His covenant-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Faithfulness to the covenant is here presented as a matter of the heart, rather than ritualistic obedience and assent to bullet points of theology. This was the stuff of the idol cults; Yahweh sought an intimate relationship with the hearts of His worshippers.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But He, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is no suggestion that He forgave them because they repented and remained penitent; to show mercy forgive iniquity is what God is good at, it is part of His fundamental character intrinsic to His Name (<a href='B:20 34:4-6'>Exo 34:4-6</a>). It was all of grace and love and desperate desire to save them.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yes, many times He turned His anger away, and didn’t stir up all His wrath-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This seems to suggest He 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. 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>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The impression is that God forgave them not because they repented- but because of His compassion, His remembering of His covenant with them [‘remember’ is often used of God in a covenant context], and simply because He recognized the frailty of their humanity. In other words, He forgave them because of His grace. We dare not allow this wonderful fact to work in us any sense of ease with sin, nor any shrugging off of the importance of repentance. But all the same, the grace of God is wonderful, and this grace is what we must show to others. And this means, forgiving without demanding specific repentance. Family life is full of the lesson that this is how we have to live if we are to live in peace with both God and men.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert!-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God was and is so sensitive, hence He can be "grieved", broken hearted (s:w. <a href='B:10 6:6'>Gen 6:6</a>), because of the behaviour of otherwise insignificant little people on the face of this planet. This extreme sensitivity is a function of His intense love. In the desert, Israel grieved God in that they grieved His Holy Spirit (s:w. <a href='B:290 63:10'>Isa 63:10</a>). This is quoted about us in the New Testament (<a href='B:560 4:30'>Eph 4:30</a>). God wishes us to be saved, and the work of His Spirit is propelling us towards salvation. But we can resist it, and thereby we grieve the very saving heart of God:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They turned around and put God to the test, and provoked the Holy One of Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God can do anything, He is omnipotent. But He chooses to limit His omnipotence in order to allow man total freewill. Therefore effectively, how far God will fulfil His purpose depends upon how far we are obedient to Him. Thus Israel limited the Holy One of Israel (<a href='B:230 78:41'>Psa 78:41</a> AV). Only at the return of the Lord Jesus will God 'take to Himself His great power' (<a href='B:730 11:17'>Rev 11:17</a>)- which language of itself suggests that God has chosen to limit His omnipotence for the moment.</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. It is this, an Asaph Psalm, that warns Israel about the danger of limiting what God is potentially prepared to do for His people. The refusal of the exiles to participate in the restoration was the parade example of thIsa.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They didn’t remember His hand, nor the day when He redeemed them from the adversary-</p><h2>This is in contrast to how the true seed of Abraham were to remember the Red Sea deliverance and teach it to their children (:4,5). Israel kept their Passovers throughout the wilderness years, one would assume- but they never remembered the day that God brought them out of Egypt (<a href='B:230 78:42'>Psa 78:42</a>)- although notice how although Israel didn't remember God, yet He remembered them in His grace (<a href='B:230 106:7'>Psa 106:7</a>; <a href='B:230 106:45'>Psa 106:45</a>). We can read of the cross, of the utter certainty of our salvation, sing and speak of it; and yet totally fail to personally realize the powerful imperatives which abound in this wonderful news.</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We can so easily be like Israel, who (presumably, under Moses) kept the Passover throughout their forty years in the wilderness; but never in all that time remembered the day that the Lord brought them forth from Egypt (<a href='B:230 78:42'>Psa 78:42</a>). Yet this was what the Passover was intended for, to remind them of that day of their redemption! They kept the Passover, but never really grasped what it was all about; they never really remembered that day of salvation, they forgot the wonder of their redemption and the future direction which it should have imparted to their lives. And so we can so easily break bread without due attention to the real import of the cross.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>how He set His signs in Egypt, His wonders in the field of Zoan-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "In the plain of Tanes", which was the capital of Egypt, where Pharaoh's palace was, where Moses and Aaron did the miracles. The "wonders" were not simply the miracles of the plagues, but the fact that this was done to deliver "the fathers" (:12) who have been defined in :8 as disbelieving. Yet despite this, they experienced miracles and deliverance (:13). Again the idea is that the rebellious were delivered by grace, and the mystery of history is that God has repeatedly saved the undeserving:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He turned their rivers and streams into blood so that they could not drink-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The plagues upon Egypt are cited here in the context of a history of Israel which emphasizes His grace to His people. This is the lens through which we must view the plagues upon Egypt. They were intended to be part of God's saving plan, both for His people and also for those Egyptians who were provoked by them to accept His great salvation.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He sent among them swarms of beetles, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on Exodus, the plagues were all aimed at different gods of Egypt. Those of the frogs and beetles were typical of thIsa. The intention of the plagues was to deconstruct the entire religion of Egypt, and bring her people to accept Yahweh's great salvation; to quit Egypt along with His people, and travel towards His Kingdom.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He gave also their increase to the caterpillar, and their labour to the locust-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The loss of the results of human labour are often used to bring people to accept God's saving work, which is by grace and not human works. See on :44. This principle works to this day. The man who spends his life building his house and finds it burnt down overnight::. may thereby be provoked to turn to God and His works and salvation.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He destroyed their vines with hail, their sycamore fig trees with frost-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :45,46. The Hebrew for "frost" could also refer to some insect plague. If literally "frost", then we have the picture of extremely low temperatures hitting the Egyptians but not the Israelites, just as there was light for the Israelites but darkness for the Egyptians, and hail in some areas but not in others where the Israelites were. The message was that Yahweh was in complete control of the elements, and can single out individuals to spare from His judgments.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He gave over their livestock also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :45,46. God "gave over" or 'shut up unto' the Egyptians to judgment (:48,50), but the same word is used of how He did the same to His people Israel (:62). They were judged for acting as the Egyptians in their hearts. Likewise the unspiritual and worldly amongst the new Israel will be "judged / destroyed [along] with the world" (<a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a>).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He threw on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, trouble, and a band of angels of evil-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "a message of evil angels". All the Angels in the sense of supernatural beings are obedient to God. There is no Biblical division of Angels into sinful ones and good ones. Angels are immortal (<a href='B:490 20:35-36'>Luk 20:35-36</a>), and seeing as the wages of sin is death (<a href='B:520 6:23'>Rom 6:23</a>), this means that they cannot sin. However, "evil" in the sense of disaster is from God (<a href='B:290 45:5-7'>Isa 45:5-7</a>; <a href='B:370 3:6'>Amo 3:6</a>). And it seems this work of bringing disaster or "evil" is specifically in the hands of Angels:&nbsp;</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Angels never affect our freewill, but nevertheless provide the necessary arrangement of circumstances to encourage us to do God's will, and affecting the lives of unbelievers to this end too. In order for unbelievers to present the necessary trials to us in order to bring this about, the&nbsp;Angels harden the hearts of these people. The plagues were due to Pharaoh's heart being hardened by God (<a href='B:20 4:21'>Exo 4:21</a>)- i:e. by the Angels of evil. <a href='B:20 9:14'>Exo 9:14</a> speaks of the plagues being sent upon Pharaoh's heart, and here we have Angels of evil being sent. Angels affect human hearts- for good and bad, operationalizing the upward or downward spirals into which human beings must inevitably enter.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:530 10:10'>1Co 10:10</a> speaks of an Angel called “the destroyer” who brought about Israel’s punishments in the wilderness. And yet <a href='B:230 78:49'>Psa 78:49</a> speaks of these as being executed by “A band of Angels of evil”. Likewise <a href='B:730 9:14'>Rev 9:14</a> has one Angel controlling others, perhaps as our guardian Angel has control over many others to effect his plans for us. The one Angel had control over others, Angels specifically used to bring evil upon those whom God rejects. It may be they will be used again in the judgment of the last day. Or it could be that ‘Angels’ in <a href='B:230 78:49'>Psa 78:49</a> is an intensive plural, and the AV reading is correct: “by sending evil angels</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>”. The one great Angel of evil is “the destroyer” of <a href='B:530 10:10'>1Co 10:10</a>. This could imply that some of the references to a “Satan” who brings disaster, as in Job, refer to one specific Angel who does these things, or co-ordinates them.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He made a path for His anger, He didn’t spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God would have spared them had they identified with Israel and followed the Passover ritual, trusting in the blood of the lamb. See on :48. The idea may be that unlike supposed angry deities and the wrath of man, God's wrath was channeled and directed in a specific way. The death of the firstborn was the specific path or channel for His wrath. And it was intended to be creative, leading towards repentance.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham-</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 their strength" 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 (:61).</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>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But He led forth His own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:230 78:52'>Psa 78:52</a> and <a href='B:290 63:9'>Isa 63:9</a>; <a href='B:290 63:11'>Isa 63:11</a> describe God as leading Israel out of Egypt as an obedient flock of sheep, suggesting that they were all accounted righteous then, by grace; even though Ezekiel says they left Egypt still carrying the gods of Egypt, and carried the tabernacle of Remphan as well as that of Yahweh:&nbsp;Similarly, Balaam said that at the Exodus God did "not behold iniquity in Jacob" (<a href='B:40 23:21-22'>Num 23:21-22</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He led them safely so that they weren’t afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "He guided them with hope", in that through the law of Moses He continually reminded them of how things would be in Canaan. They were afraid at the Red Sea; but they were counted righteous (see on :52), and so are described as being unafraid. We too are counted righteous at baptism. The intended lack of fear was a psychological miracle, the result of the gift of God's Spirit in the human spirit. But they did fear (<a href='B:20 14:10-12'>Exo 14:10-12</a>). Surely we must read in some conditions here- God’s care for them was such that they need not have feared, but they failed to discern His care and power and therefore they did fear.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He brought them to the border of His sanctuary, to this mountain, which His right hand had purchased-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The mountain" usually refers to mount Zion, where the sanctuary was. But the idea is that the entire eretz promised to Abraham was to be as equally holy. "This mountain" suggests that this Psalm was to be recited in the sanctuary services on mount Zion. <a href='B:20 15:17'>Exo 15:17</a> envisaged all the redeemed Israel as dwelling in the mountain of the sanctuary. The "purchase" is elsewhere stated as being of the people, not the land or sanctuary itself (s:w. <a href='B:50 32:6'>Deu 32:6</a>; <a href='B:230 74:2'>Psa 74:2</a>; Is 1:3). But David is unduly focusing upon the issue of the sanctuary. It could be argued from <a href='B:130 21:24'>1Ch 21:24</a> that David had "purchased" mount Zion (s:w:), and he likes to think that in fact God has done thIsa. But his obsession with building a temple there was initially rebuked by God:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Hebrew implies He made them take their inheritance. But here we have a case of potential enablement; for the tribes didn't inherit much of the land allotted despite God willing it upon them. Just as many whom God wishes to inherit the Kingdom will not take their inheritance because they refused to believe Him and were distracted by the immediate and secular rather than focusing upon the spiritual.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yet they put to the test and rebelled against the Most High God, and didn’t keep His testimonies-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to refer to their departure from Yahweh at the time of the Judges. The same words are used of their testing and rebellion in the desert. This was the overall character of Israel.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "Broke covenant". The reference seems to be to their unfaithfulness at the time of the Judges.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They were turned aside like a deceitful bow-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the very context in which we read that Israel "limited the Holy One of Israel" (<a href='B:230 78:41'>Psa 78:41</a>), we find Israel described as "a deceitful bow" (<a href='B:230 78:57'>Psa 78:57</a>). In whose hands was that bow? Surely in God's. In the same way as the quality of the bow limits the power of the archer, and causes hurt to him if it backfires on him, so were Israel to God; and so we are to Him.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their engraved images-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The language of provocation and God noticing and becoming angry (:59) is on one hand inappropriate to the God who sees and knows all things. Yet it seems to me that just as He at times limits His omnipotence, so He limits His omniscience. This is in order to enter into legitimate, real time [from our human viewpoint] relationship with man.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When God heard this, He was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :58. Israel abhorred God's laws (s:w. <a href='B:30 26:15'>Lev 26:15</a>; <a href='B:30 26:43'>Lev 26:43</a>) and therefore His abhorrence of them was appropriate. And yet by grace God did not "utterly abhor" Israel when He judged them (s:w. <a href='B:30 26:44'>Lev 26:44</a>) but restored them. So He did not treat them as they treated Him; and in this again we see His abiding grace. But the psalmist chooses to ignore this grace, and claim that as a sign of that abhorrence He removed His "tent" from Shiloh to Jerusalem (:60,67,68). But I am inclined to see this as David's wilful interpretation of what happened. For it is too much to say that God's abhorrence of Israel was just because Ephraim had sinned. They all sinned. And in any case, His abhorrence of them was not total and there was grace in the way that He did not abhor them as they did to Him. So it seems to me that the history is being twisted to blame Ephraim alone for all Israel's 'falling out' with God. Grace is overlooked. Judah's sin is likewise overlooked. And the ark went from Shiloh into captivity because all Israel had sinned, not just Ephraim. And its return to Kirjath Jearim and thence its coming to Zion was of David's doing rather than God's. God's abhorrence of "Israel" is defined as His abhorrence or 'rejection' (s:w:) of "Joseph" (:67). The history is being presented as if God's anger with "Israel" was in fact His anger with Joseph / Ephraim:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>so that He forsook the tent of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Shiloh was in Ephraim (<a href='B:60 18:1'>Jos 18:1</a>). It was David who moved the sanctuary from there to Jerusalem; but he is arguing that God did this, implying His shekinah glory / presence was withdrawn from Shiloh but reappeared once the sanctuary was established in Jerusalem. It is hard to know the degree to which David is being an accurate historian, or over interpreting to suit his own narrative and justification of his own tribe, Judah.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David's mistaken interpretation seems to be corrected in <a href='B:300 7:12-14'>Jer 7:12-14</a>; <a href='B:300 26:6'>Jer 26:6</a>. There we learn that there was indeed some kind of physical structure built for the sanctuary at Shiloh, which was destroyed; although the historical records don't record thIsa. But it was destroyed because "Israel" had sinned, and no blame is placed particularly upon Ephraim. And there is the repeated warning that the Jerusalem temple was no better than that in Shiloh and would likewise be destroyed. Yet David's vision here is that the Jerusalem sanctuary was going to last eternally (see on :69). Jeremiah is saying that in fact Judah were no better than Ephraim in the end.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There could be here the implication that the Angel was physically present in the tabernacle, and that God's displeasure was shown by this Angel literally being withdrawn. The shekinah glory associated with the Angel's presence was no longer seen. A number of other references support this idea of an Angel physically being present in the tabernacle / temple, and therefore being the source of the glory which sometimes shone forth; 1 Chronicles 15 and Psalms 68 describe the entrance of the ark into Jerusalem in terms of the Angelic march through the wilderness at the Exodus, thus connecting the Ark with the Angels. See on <a href='B:130 13:6'>1Ch 13:6</a>; <a href='B:20 25:8'>Exo 25:8</a>; <a href='B:20 33:3'>Exo 33:3</a>; <a href='B:30 4:17'>Lev 4:17</a>; <a href='B:40 14:42'>Num 14:42</a>; <a href='B:250 5:1-7'>Ecc 5:1-7</a>; <a href='B:140 31:2'>2Ch 31:2</a>; <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>; <a href='B:400 1:3'>Mic 1:3</a>; <a href='B:340 8:11'>Dan 8:11</a>; <a href='B:330 8:4'>Eze 8:4</a>; <a href='B:470 23:21'>Mat 23:21</a>.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>and delivered His strength into captivity, His glory into the adversary’s hand-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"His strength::. glory" is paralleled with "His people" (:62), although David also has in view His glory manifest over the ark going into captivity with the Philistines. See on :51. Frederick Buechner remarked upon the "folly of preaching”: “to choose for His holy work in the world::. lamebrains and misfits and nitpickers and holier-than-thous and stuffed shirts and odd ducks and egomaniacs::.". Yet weak Israel are described as God’s “strength”, the channel through which His strength would be shown to the nations; and they failed Him.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He also gave His people over to the sword-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God "gave over" or 'shut up unto' the Egyptians to judgment (:48,50), but the same word is used of how He did the same to His people Israel (:62). They were judged for acting as the Egyptians in their hearts. Likewise the unspiritual and worldly amongst the new Israel will be "judged / destroyed [along] with the world" (<a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And was angry with His inheritance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There is a mutuality between God and man. God and His Kingdom are our inheritance (:55); but we are His inheritance. A man's inheritance was the essence of Himself, all He had in the world. And this is how we are to Him.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Fire devoured their young men, their young women had no wedding song-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This Psalm seems to conclude with the time of David, but perhaps this has been edited to make it relevant to the exiles (as :64). For this is the language of Lamentations about what happened at the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. The allusion is to the young men who were Job's sons being devoured by fire, representing Divine judgment:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows couldn’t weep-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is again the language of Lamentations about the Babylonian desolation; see on :63. This doubtless happened at the time of the Judges, but there is no particular record of the priests being destroyed. Although the book of Judges records the deep apostasy of the priesthood at that time.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We have here language which we may think inappropriate being used to describe and express the sudden, violent awakening of God to judgment. And we wonder whether David is really correct to suggest God was as it were asleep and inactive whilst the ark was not with Israel; for the next verse seems to speak about God's rescue of the ark from the Philistines. David often expresses in the Psalms how he was just as close to God far from the sanctuary as when present in it. He often speaks of how he actually lived in the wilderness in the shadow of the cherubic wings, with God's glory above him and the blood of atonement as it were beneath him on the mercy seat. But all that is rather forgotten in his obsession with the sanctuary being literally in Jerusalem, in Judah, and the rejection of Ephraim.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He struck His adversaries backward, He put them to a perpetual reproach-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Hebrew is as in the AV- He smote them in the private parts. This refers to how the ark was taken from Shiloh in Ephraim into the land of the Philistines, who were smitten in their private parts with tumours (<a href='B:90 5:6'>1Sa 5:6</a>); but then the ark was returned, not to Shiloh in Ephraim, but to Kirjath Jearim in Judah, and thence to Jerusalem in Judah. But the question for us is the degree to which God ordered this transferal of the ark from Shiloh to Jerusalem; or whether David manipulated it that way, and God went along with it.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God's abhorrence of "Israel" is defined as His abhorrence or 'rejection' (s:w:) of "Joseph" (:59). The history is being presented as if God's anger with "Israel" was in fact His anger with Joseph / Ephraim:&nbsp;See on <a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>; <a href='B:230 81:5'>Psa 81:5</a>.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>And didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This claims that God did not choose Ephraim- whereas Jacob did (<a href='B:10 48:14'>Gen 48:14</a>). The implication could well be that even at the end of his life, Jacob's choice of Ephraim over Manasseh reflected some sort of weakness, a being out of step with God. This attitude that he could bring about the fulfillment of God's promises through his own efforts was the outcome of Jacob's self-righteousness. The blessing of the firstborn came upon Joseph, and Jacob had chosen Ephraim, Joseph's son, as the one who should effectively carry this blessing of the firstborn (<a href='B:130 5:1-2'>1Ch 5:1-2</a>; <a href='B:10 48:1'>Gen 48:1</a>). Ephraim marched closest to the ark (<a href='B:40 2:18-24'>Num 2:18-24</a>). Yet there seems no specific statement that God rejected Ephraim in favour of Judah.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The implication of the argument is that this rejection of Ephraim and choosing of Judah happened when God 'awoke' and destroyed His enemies (:65,66). But it is hard to locate this historically. It would seem that David is again guilty of over interpretation of some unrecorded victory, in order to justify his own tribe. See on :59.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><h2>but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David clearly loved mount Zion and the sanctuary there, pining for it in so many of his psalms of exile. But he seems to transfer his love for Zion onto God. This is a very common failure of men, to create God after their own image and likeness rather than accepting Him solely for who He reveals Himself to be. See on :59.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which He has established forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But the sanctuary was later destroyed, it was not in fact "established forever". See on :60. Again we see David dogmatically imagining that the future building of a sanctuary would be sanctioned by God to the point that God would be the builder. And therefore it would be eternal. He uses the prophetic perfect to describe what was yet future as having already happened. But God's response to David's desire to build a temple was that this was not at all what He wished:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He also chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was indeed the case; but the Divine choice of David didn't have to mean that He had thereby rejected Ephraim and Shiloh, and considered Judah to be His righteous, premier tribe. It seems that David and Solomon, or whoever authored the Psalm, was slanting history to defend and justify Judah and the Davidic line, and at times over interpreting.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>from following the ewes that have their young, He brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :72. This is the language used of the Messianic seed who could have arisen at the restoration, and which was ultimately realized in the Lord Jesus (<a href='B:290 40:11'>Isa 40:11</a>). The allusion is clearly to <a href='B:10 49:24'>Gen 49:24</a>, which says that Joseph (and therefore his son Ephraim) was to be shepherded by the God of Jacob. Whilst all David says here is true as far as it goes, he is always subtly arguing that he has been chosen to lead Ephraim and "Joseph". See on <a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>. Solomon's Proverbs tend to do the same thing; inspired truth in themselves, and yet also clearly written by Solomon with a view to justifying himself and the Davidic line against his potential competitors for the throne.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that most of the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions. However, Psalms 79 is clearly relevant to the Babylonian desolation of Jerusalem and may well have been written especially concerning that. If it was written originally by David, it would have been very heavily rewritten. Parts of it are very similar to Jeremiah's words (see on :7) and there are allusions to his Lamentations, so it could be that Jeremiah either wrote it or appropriated it, although it was performed by the clan of Asaph.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, the nations have come into Your inheritance, they have defiled Your holy temple, they have laid Jerusalem in heaps-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "inheritance" may refer specifically to the land of Judah. But the argument of the psalmist seems to disregard the fact that the prophets had clearly stated that God had sent the nations into the land; and the temple was defiled by them in response to the way that Judah had themselves defiled the temple. Micah had used the very same word in saying that Jerusalem would become heaps (<a href='B:400 3:12'>Mic 3:12</a>; <a href='B:300 26:18'>Jer 26:18</a>). Yet there seems shocked outrage when it actually happened. See on :13.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They have given the dead bodies of Your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the land-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"The beast" in the Bible refers to the neighbouring nations of Judah (:12) who come to judge her. The "saints" refers not so much to the righteous, but to God's people Israel who are His set apart people. The symbology of this verse is used in this sense in Revelation; these things are to be fulfilled on a far worse scale in the latter day desolation of Jerusalem.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Their blood they have shed like water around Jerusalem, there was no one to bury them-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again the lament seems to forget that this was what the prophets had predicted would happen because of all the blood shed in Jerusalem and around it by the apostate people of Judah, especially in their offerings of their own children to their gods.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>We have become a reproach to our neighbours, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This again was exactly as God so repeatedly warned would happen. But instead of acceptance of this fulfilment of prophecy and repentance, there is simply a sustained appeal for God to remove the promised consequence of their sin. And this is how we can all tend to be; wanting the problems and consequences removed, whilst in denial of the fact that they have come about as a result of sin, and have a far wider context than we care to see.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How long, Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Instead of accepting that His anger had a reason and purpose, the psalmist simply wants the consequence of sin removed; as noted on :4, there is no hint at repentance. The prophetic answer to the question "How long?" was clearly 'When you repent'.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Will Your jealousy burn like fire?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Hebrew word translated "zeal" in the context of God's zeal for us (<a href='B:290 9:7'>Isa 9:7</a>) really means the jealousy which flares up in a man for a woman (the same word is in <a href='B:40 5:14-15'>Num 5:14-15</a>; <a href='B:240 6:34'>Pro 6:34</a>; <a href='B:260 8:6'>Son 8:6</a> etc:). That jealousy burning like fire (<a href='B:230 79:5'>Psa 79:5</a>) is His passion for us His people; even if as here, it is reflected in His anger with His cruelly unfaithful people. He is a jealous God in His zeal for us; and therefore any other relationships with the things of this world cannot be contemplated by us. That zeal of God will be poured out upon us at the second coming, resulting in a consummation with Him as the wife of His covenant (<a href='B:290 42:13-14'>Isa 42:13-14</a>; <a href='B:290 64:1'>Isa 64:1</a>).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Pour out Your wrath on the nations that don’t know You, on the kingdoms that don’t call on Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The continual desire for "vengeance" (:10,12) is out of step with the God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (<a href='B:330 33:11'>Eze 33:11</a>), but wishes all to come to repentance. But repentance is not given any great stress in these psalms. Vengeance and immediate removal of the consequences of sin are in central place.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>for they have devoured Jacob, and destroyed his homeland-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The same words as in <a href='B:300 10:25'>Jer 10:25</a>, supporting the suggestion made on :1 that Jeremiah may have written this Psalm. That their homeland would be "destroyed" was the clear agreement they had&nbsp; made in accepting covenant with Yahweh; for the same word is used there of the consequence of breaking the covenant (<a href='B:30 26:22'>Lev 26:22</a>; <a href='B:30 26:31-32'>Lev 26:31-32</a> etc:). Judah had made their own land desolate / destroyed (s:w. <a href='B:300 12:11'>Jer 12:11</a>). It was Yahweh who had desolated the land (s:w. <a href='B:310 1:13'>Lam 1:13</a>; <a href='B:330 20:26'>Eze 20:26</a>). Rather like David in his psalms of the Absalom period, there is a deep desire for the promised consequence of sin to be removed, without referencing repentance and guilt.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us; let Your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Ezekiel repeatedly labours the point that the exiles are not suffering for the sins of their fathers, but for their own sins. And yet the psalmist apparently ignores this, and seems to use this idea as a preface for the general plea for "forgiveness" which follows in :9. But that plea is hardly repentance when "our sins" have just been defined as those of their fathers, which God apparently wrongly counts to them; according to the psalmist.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name. Deliver us and forgive our sins-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :8, this is not much of a plea of repentance, because "our sins" have been defined in :8 as not their sins, but those of their fathers- which the psalmist accuses God of wrongly holding against them. The LXX uses the word translated “propitiation” in the NT with reference to how God forgave / propitiated for Israel’s sins for His Name’s sake (<a href='B:20 32:14'>Exo 32:14</a>; <a href='B:230 79:9'>Psa 79:9</a>). God did not forgive only once the red blood of His Son was offered; He forgave anyway, as part of His Name, His essential personality, which is so deeply forgiving. He is no pagan deity who requires to see red blood of human sacrifice before forgiving. The Lord's death was therefore largely to persuade us of how serious God is in His project for our personal salvation. He commended His love toward us, in that whilst we were yet sinners, His Son died for the ungodly, the just for the unjust.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For Your name’s sake-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Yahweh Name was linked with the Messiah: King of the Jews. The Name was declared in the Lord’s death, as He had foretold (<a href='B:500 17:26'>Joh 17:26</a>). Forgiveness of sins is through baptism into the Name (<a href='B:510 2:38'>Act 2:38</a>), as even in OT times forgiveness was for the sake of the Name (<a href='B:230 79:9'>Psa 79:9</a>). And yet through the cross and blood of Christ is forgiveness made possible. His blood and death therefore was the supreme declaration of God’s Name; through His cross the grace and forgiveness, love, salvation and judgment implicit in the Name was all enabled and revealed in practice.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Why should the nations say, Where is their God? Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for Your servants’ blood is being poured out-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The prophetic intention was that the restoration of Jerusalem and judgment of her abusers would lead the nations to know God, i:e. to come into relationship with Him. The Psalmist is arguing that the desolate state of Jerusalem is in fact an invitation to denial of Yahweh's existence, an encouragement to atheism. But whilst there is a mention of repentance in :9, the deep concern of the psalmist is for vengeance upon the Babylonians, even asking for them to be punished seven times more than what they had done to Judah (:12). This fails to factor in the fact that they were God's 'servants', sent by Him to do what they did. The pouring out of blood was in fact what they had done, in pouring out the blood of their children to Baals. The desire for "vengeance" is out of step with the God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but wishes all to come to repentance. But repentance is not given any great stress in these psalms. Vengeance and immediate removal of the consequences of sin are in central place.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let the sighing of the prisoner come before You. According to the greatness of Your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The restoration prophecies of Isaiah offer freedom for the prisoners, the exiles, and the lifting of their death sentence. But the reality was that the majority of the exiles chose to remain within their "prison" in exile. The book of Esther concludes with the Jews wealthy and prosperous there, not at all perceiving that Babylon / Persia was a prison cell, in spiritual terms.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Pay back to our neighbours seven times into their lap their reproach with which they have reproached You, Lord-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This perspective rather fails to appreciate the repeated prophetic teaching that Israel were to be judged and Jerusalem destroyed because of their sins; and all that was done to Jerusalem by the invaders had been done to it in spiritual terms by Judah themselves. God had judged His people less than their iniquities deserved (<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>); if that had been perceived, then surely it would have militated against this request for the punishers to be punished seven times more than they punished Judah.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. To the tune of The Lilies of the Covenant. A Psalm by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</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. Psalms 80 is a psalm of Asaph, written [or re-edited] in Babylon. He speaks much of the cherubim- of how God dwelt between the cherubs, and still lead His people in that way (<a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>). Asaph grasped Ezekiel's fundamental point- that God hadn't forgotten His people, but the cherubim was just as actively leading and protecting God's people in Babylon as they had been in the land of Judah. Asaph asks God in this context to "restore us" to the land (<a href='B:230 80:3'>Psa 80:3</a>; <a href='B:230 80:14'>Psa 80:14</a>; <a href='B:230 80:19'>Psa 80:19</a> RVmg:), lamenting how the walls of Zion are broken down (<a href='B:230 80:12'>Psa 80:12</a>). He speaks of how the faithful people weep tears "in great measure" (<a href='B:230 80:5'>Psa 80:5</a>), a reference to their weeping by the rivers of Babylon, and the theme of tears and weeping amongst the exiles which we meet so often in Lamentations. But in this context, Asaph speaks of how a "branch" or "son" (<a href='B:230 80:15'>Psa 80:15</a>) would be made strong by God, and this Messiah figure would be the man of God's right hand as well as "the son of man whom you make strong for yourself" (<a href='B:230 80:17'>Psa 80:17</a>). Clearly Asaph prayed for and expected a Messiah figure to arise at the same time as the restoration from Babylon. But none did; those who could've played that role, such as Zerubbabel "the branch", ultimately failed. And the cherubim Angels are hovering above us, too, enabling so, so much.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Psalms 80 appears to be paired with Psalms 79. Psalms 79 has urged God to immediately relieve Judah from their sufferings and take vengeance on the Babylonians, but with little emphasis upon repentance and the fact they were suffering for their sins. Psalms 80 continues to ask for this relief from suffering, but with more spiritual insight and reflection upon their situation.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This appears to put right some of the reasoning in Psalms 78, which presents David more than God as the shepherd of Israel (see on <a href='B:230 78:71'>Psa 78:71</a>), and presents "Joseph", especially the tribe of Ephraim his son, as rejected by God in favour of Judah (see on <a href='B:230 78:67'>Psa 78:67</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You who sit above the cherubim, shine forth-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This is a significant profession of faith in the context of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the exile. The glory of God had shone forth from between the cherubim over the ark; but the ark had disappeared, and the glory of God was not seen in the sanctuary. But Ezekiel had published his vision of the cherubim of glory; they were still in existence, although departed from Jerusalem. So here we find faith that although there were no visible symbols of religion, still God was known to be "there", in all His glory.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>David often expresses in the Psalms how he was just as close to God far from the sanctuary as when present in it. He often speaks of how he actually lived in the wilderness in the shadow of the cherubic wings, with God's glory above him and the blood of atonement as it were beneath him on the mercy seat.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>All this prepared the way for Israel to understand God's glory in His now invisible Son. "In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (<a href='B:580 2:9'>Col 2:9</a>) would have been easily perceived as an allusion to the way that Yahweh Himself as it were dwelt between the cherubim on the mercy seat (<a href='B:120 19:15'>2Ki 19:15</a>; <a href='B:230 80:1'>Psa 80:1</a>). And yet the Lord Jesus in His death was the “[place of] propitiation” (<a href='B:650 2:17'>Heb 2:17</a>), the blood-sprinkled&nbsp; mercy seat. “There I will meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the mercy-seat::. of all things which I will&nbsp; command you” (<a href='B:20 25:20-22'>Exo 25:20-22</a>). In the cross, God met with man and communed with us, commanding us the life we ought to lead through all the unspoken, unarticulated imperatives which there are within the blood of His Son. There in the person of Jesus nailed to the tree do we find the focus of God’s glory and self-revelation, and to this place we may come to seek redemption. </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your might! Come to save us!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :1, the mistaken assumption that Judah and Benjamin were better than Ephraim and Manasseh is now corrected. For they are mentioned together, in the hope that not only Judah but also the scattered ten tribes will be restored together. The language of stirring up and coming to save is used in later Isaiah of God's eagerness to do just that in the form of a Messianic deliverer for the exiles. But the reality was that all the various options tried, e:g. Zerubbabel and Joshua, all failed; and the exiles preferred to remain in exile for the most part. And so these things were reapplied and rescheduled to the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Turn us again, God. Cause Your face to shine, and we will be saved-</p><h2>"Turn us again" is the word used for the 'return' of the exiles, both to their land to their God. But the psalmist has the insight to realize that most didn't want to repent, and so he asks God to elicit that repentance, to work by His Spirit to actually give them repentance and a turning again to Him, so that there might be a turning again of Judah's fortunes. Repentance itself is therefore a gift (<a href='B:510 11:18'>Act 11:18</a>). This is indeed the grace shown by the work of the Holy Spirit upon human hearts.</h2>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Yahweh God of Armies, How long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The "God of armies" typically refers to the Angels. The psalmist perceived that the Angels had been used to bring about the scattering, and could likewise be used to answer these prayers for restoration.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in large measure-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Despite the apparent complaint, the psalmist recognizes that God was still active with the exiles; He was giving them food and drink, even if it was unpleasant. It was David who had been fed with the bread of tears in consequence of his sin with Bathsheba (s:w. <a href='B:230 42:3'>Psa 42:3</a>); if Judah followed his pattern of repentance, then they too would be restored to Zion as he was after having to go into exile from Absalom. "In large measure" is literally "three times over". And yet God had punished the exiles less than their iniquities deserved (<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>). These prayers for restoration so often seem to present pictures which are not to true to reality, and which fail to take account of the fact Judah had sinned and were being given the consequences of their sin:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You make us a source of derision to our neighbours, our enemies laugh among themselves-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This was indeed the case, but the prophets had so often said that this was what would happen if Judah continued in their rejection of God; and indeed this was the fulfilment of the curses for breaking the covenant. But the psalmists seem to always put the blame on God and try to as it were guilt trip Him for the situation- instead of accepting that the people were the ones who had caused this to happen.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Turn us again, God of Armies. Cause Your face to shine, and we will be saved-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This repeats :3, and as noted there, this is a request for God to give repentance [and not just forgiveness] to the exiles. But here "God" is defined as "God of Armies". Perhaps the idea is that the Angels would operationalize this request for God to act upon human hearts and make them repentant. The shining forth of God's face perhaps alludes to the situation on the day of atonement, when forgiveness was pronounced and the shekinah glory supposedly shone forth. The exiles at this point were without the temple and the ark, so we see them coming to realize what David did when in exile from those things- that the presence of God can be found anywhere, including outside of visible religious symbols and structures:&nbsp; </p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You brought a vine out of Egypt, You drove out the nations and planted it-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As God had brought Israel out of Egypt and cleared out the Canaanite nations, so the psalmist is asking that God does this for the exiles, clearing away the Samaritan opposition as He did the Canaanites. But Israel at that point were still worshipping idols, taking the idols of Egypt with them through the Red Sea (so Ezekiel says), and carrying the tabernacle of Remphan along with that of Yahweh. Their bringing out and placing back in their land was then an act of grace, and the psalmist asks God to do the same with the exiles.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You cleared the land for it. It took deep root, and filled the land-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The vine and vineyard was a symbol of the people of Israel (<a href='B:230 80:15'>Psa 80:15</a>; <a href='B:290 1:8'>Isa 1:8</a>; <a href='B:290 5:7'>Isa 5:7</a>; <a href='B:290 27:2'>Isa 27:2</a>; <a href='B:300 12:10'>Jer 12:10</a>; <a href='B:470 21:41'>Mat 21:41</a>). The land was "cleared" for them to live there, but again, they didn't make full use of the potential; they didn't drive out all the tribes living there, even though potentially the land had been cleared for them. See on <a href='B:230 81:14'>Psa 81:14</a>. And the same was true at the restoration. The way back to Zion was "prepared" (<a href='B:460 3:1'>Mal 3:1</a>; s:w. "cleared"); but most of the exiles chose to remain in exile. And so the land was not filled by the exiles, the vine of Israel didn't fill the face of the promised land with literal and spiritual fruit (<a href='B:330 34:27'>Eze 34:27</a>; <a href='B:290 27:6'>Isa 27:6</a>). These things were therefore reapplied and rescheduled to the acceptance of the gospel of restoration by Gentiles in Christ:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>the mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were like God’s cedars-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Cedars are associated with the Jerusalem temple; the idea was that the nations ["mountains"] within the eretz promised to Abraham would come under the shadow of the restored kingdom of God in Judah, so that the entire land became as the sanctuary in Zion. But this didn't happen, just as the picture is exaggerated here of what actually happened when Israel established their kingdom on entering the land. For they were constantly under pressure from their neighbours within that land and hardly brought the surrounding nations under the shadow of Israel's God. Instead they accepted their gods.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>It sent out its branches to the sea, its shoots to the River-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>An allusion to the extent of the promised land, from the sea to the River Euphrates. But apart from briefly in Solomon's time, this great potential was not experienced by Israel, and the returning exiles likewise didn't achieve anything like the potential Divinely set up for them. And so these things are rescheduled to the things of God's Kingdom under the Lord Jesus.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Why have You broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it?<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The answer to that question is given clearly in the prophets. The walls were broken down by God's people themselves, and the walls of the vineyard were in turn removed by God because they refused to bring forth spiritual fruit (Isaiah 5). But the psalmists seem too focused upon the removal of the consequences for sin, rather than facing up to the sin and appealing for repentance.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The boar out of the wood ravages it, the wild beasts of the field feed on it-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Again we might reflect that the psalmist ought to have given more weight to the prophetic pictures of the surrounding nations (the Biblical "beast") coming into the land because Israel had failed to keep them out; they had welcomed them in, and placed their gods within the Jerusalem temple. But the focus seems all upon lamenting the consequence of sin, rather than repentance and humility.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Turn again, we beg You, God of Armies. Look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>What Judah prayed for by the rivers of Babylon was indeed heard. There they had asked that God would “visit” them and “return” them (<a href='B:230 80:14'>Psa 80:14</a>). The same two Hebrew words are to be found in <a href='B:300 27:22'>Jer 27:22</a>, where we read that God would exile His people to Babylon and then “visit” them and make them “return”. We meet the same two words in <a href='B:430 2:7'>Zep 2:7</a>, where God would ‘visit and return’ the captivity of the remnant of Judah. But when God did “visit” His people, just as when He ‘visited’ His people in the gift of His Son, they didn’t want to ‘return’ or respond. Those who had desired ‘the day of the Lord’ at that time had been praying for it, when it was ‘to no end’ for them. And we have to ask ourselves whether we really mean our prayers for the Lord’s return.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'><a href='B:300 27:22'>Jer 27:22</a> predicted that God would “visit” His people and “bring them up”. Those very two words are found in the declaration of Cyrus as recorded in <a href='B:140 36:23'>2Ch 36:23</a>: “God hath charged [s:w. “visited”] me to build him a house in Jerusalem</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up [s:w. “bring them up”]”. The most powerful monarch in the Middle East made the humanly bizarre and inexplicable command to “go up” to the land. ‘Going up’ and ‘visiting’ are language associated with Angels. The people were being encouraged to follow the cherubim-Angel. But most of the people said ‘No that’s fine, we’ll give some money, but we’ll stay here thanks. We won’t be ‘going up’’. And in essence, we are so similar as a community.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The design of the temple which Ezekiel communicated to the captives featured the motif of cherubim all over it, especially in the holy place. This wasn't mere decoration. The idea was clearly that if the captives returned and built the temple as specified, then the cherubim would again dwell there. It was up to them. But there's no indication that they were very obedient to the pattern given them; hence perhaps it was the more spiritually perceptive who wept when the foundation of the second temple was dedicated, knowing how far it was from Ezekiel's commands (<a href='B:150 3:12'>Ezr 3:12</a>). Ezekiel saw the temple as if it were already there, located at Jerusalem; he wasn't transported to Heaven to view it (<a href='B:330 40:2'>Eze 40:2</a>). And it was there, potentially, that whole glorious temple. But the captives had to return and build it. turning the prophetic word into flesh, the logos into reality. But they didn't.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>the stock which Your right hand planted, the branch that You made strong for Yourself-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This paves the way for :17. The palmist perceives that the restoration will come through a specific "branch". The potential fulfilment in Zerubbabel, the 'branch from Babylon', didn't come about; and so the fulfilment was rescheduled to the Lord Jesus Christ as the branch (<a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>; <a href='B:300 23:5'>Jer 23:5</a>).</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. <a href='B:230 80:16-17'>Psa 80:16-17</a> asks God to strengthen a Son of Man to be Messiah, seeing that the temple is in ruins; the raising up of a Messiah was perceived as potentially possible at the time.</p>


text:
<h2>It’s burned with fire. It’s cut down. They perish at Your rebuke-</h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Although in :15 and :17 the psalmist has a specific individual in view, he perceives that this individual will be a personification and embodiment of God's people. The branch was also Israel and Zion, who were at that time cut down and burnt. Salvation in our age is likewise predicated upon being "in Christ". The suffering servant was both Israel and finally the Lord Jesus, who suffered as their representative:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Let Your hand be on the man of Your right hand, on the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The psalmist perceives that the restoration will come through an individual Messianic figure. 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 89:21'>Psa 89:21</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>).</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So we will not turn away from You; accept us, and we will call on Your name-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The appeal is for God to turn His people to Himself, giving them repentance (see on :3,7,19) and psychological strengthening, so that they would never again turn away from Him. And only then would they call upon His Name. We would frankly expect the order to be the other way around; calling upon God's Name, vowing not to turn away again, and then being accepted. But the psalmist perceives God's grace is such that He is willing to turn men to Himself, accept them- and then in awe at such grace, they call upon His Name.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. By Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm begins in :1-5 with a call to joyfully celebrate a feast, probably Passover or Tabernacles. We note the Levites are called to make music (:2), and the priests to blow the trumpets (:3). But the Psalm then abruptly changes. God answers this call for joyful celebration with a rebuke of His people for their sinfulness. This Psalm is therefore a commentary and exemplification of the frequent prophetic complaint that God found Israel's keeping of the feasts to be a smoke in His nostrils. It was mere external religion; and from :5 onwards we have His commentary upon their desire to keep the feast.</p>&nbsp;<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :1. The tambourine may have been to recall the rejoicing of Miriam and the women of Israel after the Passover deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea. This may therefore be a call to keep Passover, although it would be just as appropriate for Tabernacles.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :1, this was an invitation for the priests to blow the trumpet to begin the feast. The mention of "New Moon" may simply mean the start of the month, so perhaps :1-4 is a generic text for use at any feast or religious celebration.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As noted on :1, we have here a call to keep one of the feasts, and there is pride in their obedience to God's commands about thIsa. But His response from :5 onwards dashes this exuberant spirit, in condemning Israel for being apostate and impenitent. We must take the lesson that apparent external obedience and religious joy and praise- are no guarantee of our real standing with God, nor are they necessarily the same as true spirituality.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The mention of Joseph appears to put right some of the reasoning in Psalms 78, which presents "Joseph", especially the tribe of Ephraim his son, as rejected by God in favour of Judah (see on <a href='B:230 78:67'>Psa 78:67</a>). God's response to Judah's desire to keep a feast to Him is that actually He had chosen Joseph / Ephraim as much as them.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>When he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn’t know-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This reference to the Passover Angel going forth over Egypt suggests that :1-4 was a liturgy to be used in summoning the people to keep the Passover feast (cp. <a href='B:290 37:36'>Isa 37:36</a>). But now begins God's response to their feast keeping. He begins by stressing His identification with His people and His grace towards them, for what will follow after this is a deep criticism of them. God so identified Himself with Israel that in Egypt, He Himself heard a language which He understood not (AV). He could have understood it, and in a sense He did; but so identified is Yahweh with His people that He allows Himself to be limited by their perceptions.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I removed his shoulder from the burden, his hands were freed from the basket-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This reflects the degree to which God was intensely aware of His peoples' sufferings; and that is just as true today. He saw their shoulders and hands at work. But the RV speaks of the people as being delivered from the basket, alluding to the personal deliverance of Moses. The people were for the most part spiritually weak, taking the idols of Egypt with them through the Red Sea (Ezekiel), and carrying through the desert the tabernacle of Remphan as well as that of Yahweh. The idea is that God saved Israel by grace on account of their identification with Moses, just as we are baptized into Christ and counted righteous in Him, as Israel were baptized into Moses (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>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 thee [Moses] and with Israel" (<a href='B:20 34:27'>Exo 34:27</a>). <a href='B:290 63:11'>Isa 63:11</a> (Heb:) is even more explicit: "He remembered::. Moses his people" . Moses seems to have appreciated fully his representative role on that last glorious day of life when he addressed Israel: " The Lord said unto me::. I will deliver [Og] into thy hand::. so the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og" (<a href='B:50 3:2-3'>Deu 3:2-3</a>). David recognized this unity between Moses and Israel; David describes both Israel and Moses as God's chosen (Psa. 16:5,23). Moses is described as encamping in the wilderness, when the reference clearly is to all Israel (<a href='B:20 18:5'>Exo 18:5</a>). Moses recalled how “the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have delivered up Sihon and his land before thee [you singular- i:e. Moses]; begin to possess it, that thou [you singular again!] mayest inherit his land”. Yet Moses then comments that therefore God “delivered” Sihon “before us” (Deuteronomy 31, 33 RV). The land and victory that Moses personally could have had- for it was God’s wish to destroy Israel and make of him a new nation- he shared with Israel. <a href='B:20 7:16'>Exo 7:16</a> brings out the unity between them by a play on words: “The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me [lit. ‘let me go’] unto thee, saying, Let my people go”. “Let go” translates the same Hebrew word as “sent me”. Just as Moses had been let go by Yahweh, so Israel were to be.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>LXX "I heard thee in the secret place of the storm". Despite their sinfulness and worship of the idols of Egypt in the desert, God still answered their calls for help in distress. The reference may be to how Israel at the Red Sea called to God in their trouble, and He answered them out of the pillar of cloud (<a href='B:20 14:10'>Exo 14:10</a>; <a href='B:20 14:24'>Exo 14:24</a>); apparently that cloud appeared at times as a storm cloud.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The weakness of Israel at Meribah is juxtaposed with God's enduring grace to them in the first half of the verse. </p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Hear My people and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would have listened to Me!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The theme of God's appeal is that so much potential had been wasted by them ["if you would have::."], because for all their external obedience in keeping feasts (see on :1), they were not truly listening to Him. And so He repeats His appeals made so often in Deuteronomy, to "hear, O Israel", 'testifying' to them as He also did in Deuteronomy (s:w. <a href='B:50 4:26'>Deu 4:26</a>; <a href='B:50 8:19'>Deu 8:19</a> etc:).</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There shall be no strange god with you, neither shall you worship any foreign god-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The people were for the most part spiritually weak, taking the idols of Egypt with them through the Red Sea (Ezekiel), and carrying through the desert the tabernacle of Remphan as well as that of Yahweh. And they were no better at the point of this Psalm. God urges them not to abuse His grace and to quit idolatry.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I am Yahweh your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God speaks of Israel as if they were His beloved baby child; for these are the words of a man seeking to feed his child. But the child refused to respond (:11). The feeding was with His voice and word (:11). And they turned away from it This passage alone makes me want to plead with Israel to return to their so loving Father.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>But My people didn’t listen to My voice, Israel desired none of Me-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>See on :10. They were as the young child who is estranged from the loving father even from early childhood. <a href='B:290 28:12'>Isa 28:12</a>; <a href='B:290 30:9'>Isa 30:9</a>; <a href='B:290 30:15'>Isa 30:15</a> seem to allude here. It was exactly because Israel "would not" (s:w. "desired none of Me") that they were not allowed to continue in the land.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>On their journey to Canaan, the Israelites worshipped idols. Because of this, "God turned, and gave them up (over) to worship the host of heaven::. I gave them up to the hardness of their hearts" (<a href='B:510 7:42'>Act 7:42</a>; <a href='B:230 81:12'>Psa 81:12</a> AVmg:). God reached a stage where He actually encouraged Israel to worship idols; He confirmed them in their rejection of Him. And throughout their history, He encouraged them in their idolatry (<a href='B:330 20:39'>Eze 20:39</a>; <a href='B:370 4:4'>Amo 4:4</a>). But there was a point where His Spirit was working on their hearts to stop them from idolatry; but they reached a point where they so grieved His Holy Spirit that He gave up doing this, and instead psychologically confirmed them in the mental path of the heart which they wished to go.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Oh that My people would have listened to me, that Israel would have walked in my ways!<strong>- </strong></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God's pain is because they had not used the potential He had set up for them, described on :14. Grief is so often a function of considering what might have been; thus we grieve harder at the death of a child than for the passing of a peaceful 90 year old. And God passes through this same intense grief because of all the failed possibilities.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I would quickly have subdued their enemies, and turned My hand against their adversaries-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God had potentially cleared the land of all the Canaanites, victory could have been very quick. And indeed thus it began at Joshua's time; but they failed to drive out the majority of the Canaanites, they failed to make use of God's hand which was turned against their enemies. See on <a href='B:230 80:8-9'>Psa 80:8-9</a>.</p>


text:
<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The haters of Yahweh would have cringed before Him, and their punishment would have lasted forever-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The victories won by Joshua were not permanent; the same areas he conquered and tribes he defeated rose up to dominate Israel later. Because they failed to make use of the Divine potential. Just as the Lord Jesus has won the battle and assured us of a place in the Kingdom; but we have to capitalize upon that. 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. <a href='B:230 81:15-16'>Psa 81:15-16</a> says that if Israel had been obedient, their neighbouring enemies would soon have submitted to them, and they would have experienced the blessings potentially in store for them. Just as God would have fed Israel with honey from the rock rather than just water (:16).</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Elohim has taken His place in the divine council</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>In the midst of the elohim He holds judgment". This is a reference to the court of Heaven, into which we have a peek in 1 Kings 22. Elohim can refer to both Angels and men, such as the judges of Israel. They were intended to be a reflection of the court of heaven. And their assemblies were in turn judged by Yahweh, who was among them in judgment.</p>


text:
<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Selah-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God judges the judges of His people. Showing partiality in judgment was condemned under the Mosaic law (<a href='B:50 1:17'>Deu 1:17</a>; <a href='B:50 16:19'>Deu 16:19</a>). God's "How long:::?" may be an echo of the "How long:::?" common in the Asaph psalms at the time of the exile. The answer was "When you repent and start behaving rightly", and here God is making that same point.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This psalm may have originated in David's lament at the unjust judgment of Saul or the men around Absalom, who fancied himself as judge of Israel (<a href='B:100 15:3-6'>2Sa 15:3-6</a>). 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'>Rescue the weak and needy, deliver them out of the hand of the wicked-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This may have originated in his 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>. Yet these are God's words to His people. They were not being delivered because they themselves were not delivering the weak from the wicked. It seems the Jews had some autonomy in Persia, and perhaps this is a criticism of how they operated their local courts in the exile:&nbsp;</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They don’t know, neither do they understand; they wander back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The judges of Israel were living out their condemnation even in this life; for wandering in darkness is the language of condemnation at the last day.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I said, You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>As explained on :1, the elohim who were the judges of Israel were to reflect the elohim of the divine court room above them in heaven. But lest this Psalm be seen as merely a judgment of the judges, the point is made that all Israel were intended to be elohim. All Israel were intended to be priests, who are also called elohim; for they were to be a "nation of priests". <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><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>). 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>).</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Lord Jesus quotes these words in <a href='B:500 10:34'>Joh 10:34</a>: "Is it not written in your law: I said, you are gods?". The Lord Jesus is really saying ‘In the Old Testament men are called ‘gods’; I am saying I am the Son of God; so why are you getting so upset and claiming it is blasphemous if I use God's Name of Myself?’. The Lord Jesus is quoting from here in Psalms 82, where the judges of Israel were called ‘gods’. And yet the context is critical of those judges; to bear the name of 'God' didn't mean one was acceptable to God. And it is no accident that the Lord chose to quote an example of where Israel's leaders bear God's Name but are apostate. He was turning the tables on the Jewish leadership who were accusing Him of claiming to be God. It was in fact they who bore the name of God- and yet were to be condemned for not responding to the word / logos of God which had come to them.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Lord continued in <a href='B:500 10:35'>Joh 10:35</a>: "If he called those men gods, to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken)::." The apostate leaders of Israel were the ones who bore the Name of God. The word / logos of God had come to them in that as pictured in the prologue to John's gospel, the logos of God in Jesus of Nazareth had 'come' to Israel and they had rejected it. The word of God came to the Old Testament judges of Israel [the context of Psalms 82] in that they were to judge according to His word. The Lord may also have in mind the LXX of <a href='B:140 19:6'>2Ch 19:6</a> where the judges of Israel are warned to judge rightly, because the logos of God is with them, had been given them, to judge rightly. The same idea is found in <a href='B:50 1:17'>Deu 1:17</a> where again the judges of Israel are warned in the LXX to judge according to the logos of God and not reject it in favour of human sympathies. In this sense perhaps <a href='B:650 4:13'>Heb 4:13</a> speaks of being judged by the logos of God. In the person of the Lord Jesus, the logos of God had come to the judges of Israel- and they were refusing to judge rightly because of their own agendas and personal investments.</p>


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<h2></h2><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>"Thrown down" or "fall" was to be the fate of the unjust princes of Israel (s:w. <a href='B:230 73:18'>Psa 73:18</a>) just as it had been the fate of Korah and the princes / rulers with him (<a href='B:40 16:2'>Num 16:2</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>A Psalm by Asaph-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This "Asaph" could be the Asaph of Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:290 36:3'>Isa 36:3</a>) who used the Psalms in the context of the events of the Assyrian invasion. The Asaph Psalms all have parts in them relevant to that context (Psalms 50, 73-83). Or the "Asaph" may have been the singers who were relatives of Asaph, prominent at the restoration (<a href='B:160 7:44'>Neh 7:44</a>; <a href='B:160 11:17'>Neh 11:17</a>; <a href='B:160 11:22'>Neh 11:22</a>). It could mean that the psalms were a part of a collection from the Asaphites, and the name "Asaph" was therefore simply used to identify the temple singers. And again, parts of the Asaph psalms also have relevance to the restoration. The fact the Asaph Psalms speak of elohim rather than Yahweh would support the idea that they were used in the exilic / restoration period. But Asaph was the "chief" of the Levites to whom David assigned the ministry of praise before the ark (<a href='B:130 16:4-5'>1Ch 16:4-5</a>). It seems he did compose his own Psalms, which were used by Hezekiah at his time (<a href='B:140 29:30'>2Ch 29:30</a>). So I would again suggest that all the Asaph Psalms were composed originally by David "for" [not necessarily "by"] Asaph, but were rewritten and edited for later occasions.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>God, don’t keep silent. Don’t keep silent and don’t be still, God-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The statement that God will not "rest" for Zion's sake (<a href='B:290 62:1'>Isa 62:1</a>) must be understood in the context of the faithful at that time urging God not to "be still" [same Hebrew word translated "rest"] for His people (<a href='B:230 83:1'>Psa 83:1</a>; <a href='B:290 64:12'>Isa 64:12</a>). This is an allusion to Boaz not being at rest until he had redeemed Ruth and Naomi. God is not at rest, He is not distant from us; and yet His people in Babylon felt that He was. It's no wonder that we are tempted to feel the same. Yet we must give <a href='B:290 62:1'>Isa 62:1</a> it's full weight- God is answering the complaint of His people by stating that no, He will never rest for them. In this same context we read that He that keeps Israel will "neither slumber nor sleep" (<a href='B:230 121:4'>Psa 121:4</a>). The fact that God will never 'hold His peace' for His people's sake (<a href='B:290 62:1'>Isa 62:1</a>) means that we should likewise not 'hold our peace' for them (the same Hebrew is used in <a href='B:290 62:6'>Isa 62:6</a>). In our prayers for them, we are to give God no rest (<a href='B:290 62:7'>Isa 62:7</a>).</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>For, behold, Your enemies are stirred up, those who hate You have lifted up their heads-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>I suggest that Psalms 83 originated at the time of David's war with Ammon (<a href='B:100 10:1-19'>2Sa 10:1-19</a>). It was at this time that the children of Lot (Ammon) were helped by Assyria (<a href='B:100 10:16'>2Sa 10:16</a>; <a href='B:130 19:6'>1Ch 19:6</a>; <a href='B:130 19:16'>1Ch 19:16</a>), as required by :8. Although nations like Amalek and Assyria passed away, their political and geographical descendants continued. The Psalm could therefore also apply to the confederacy of Moab, Ammon and Edom in the reign of Jehoshaphat (<a href='B:140 20:1-37'>2Ch 20:1-37</a>). It could also apply to the attempt to destroy the revived Judah by Sanballat, Geshem and Tobiah. And relevance can also be seen to the confederacy of attacked described in 1 Maccabees 5, which was put down by Judas Maccabaeus.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The Psalm has much language appropriate to a latter day fulfilment; the fact it had multiple primary fulfillments leads us to expect thIsa. The revival of Arab nationalism and its organization in the P:L:O. seems especially appropriate. They are to lift up / exalt the rosh, the head- they set up an individual leader over them. This could be “Gog</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> the chief prince” of Ezekiel 38, “the king of the north” of Daniel, “the man of sin” of 2 Thessalonians 2, and all the other references to a latter day Nebuchadnezzar / antiChrist figure.</p>


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<p style='margin-left:1:415em'></p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>They conspire with cunning against Your people, they plot against Your cherished ones-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>There could be an application of this to Isaiah's time. Rezin's invasions were a result of 'taking evil counsel against' Israel (<a href='B:290 7:5'>Isa 7:5</a>), just as Assyria and her supporters were to do:&nbsp; "They have taken crafty counsel against thy people" (<a href='B:230 83:3'>Psa 83:3</a>). Rezin's plan was to "set a king in the midst of (Judah), even the son of Tabeal" (<a href='B:290 7:6'>Isa 7:6</a>), meaning 'pleasing to God':&nbsp;This supports the suggestion that the "fierce anger" of the invaders, both then and in the future, will be fuelled by quasi-religious reasoning- in this case 'You Jews are so displeasing to God, we're going to put a truly God-pleasing Muslim ruler in the holy city of Jerusalem:'&nbsp;The double emphasis on "Damascus" as being the nerve centre of Rezin's operations (<a href='B:290 7:8'>Isa 7:8</a>), may also be significant in that this very city is now a centre for terrorism against Israel.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Psalms 83 provides a list of ten areas around Israel who will form a covenant against her in the last days. It’s tempting to associate them with the ten toes of the Daniel 2 image and the ten horns of the beasts we meet in Daniel 7 and Revelation. What’s significant about the specific areas listed in Psalms 83 is that the list roughly corresponds to the places where exiled Palestinians have settled. The ‘covenant’ which is mentioned in Psalms 83 would therefore be the Palestinian Covenant, which calls for the destruction of Israel. The way the Islamists will seek to bind together their divided state is made clear in Psalms 83, where we have ten neighbouring nations, 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><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>“They conspire with cunning against Your people, they plot against Your cherished ones. Come, they say, and let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more:&nbsp; For they have conspired together with one mind, they form an alliance against You. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them” (<a href='B:230 83:3-8'>Psa 83:3-8</a>). Note that ‘Philistine’ and ‘Palestinian’ are the same word</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>This ‘conspiring together with one mind’ and ‘forming an alliance’ is exactly what we see coming out of the uniting of the disparate Islamist factions in Syria and elsewhere. “Form an alliance” translates a Hebrew phrase more commonly translated ‘to cut a covenant’ (<a href='B:230 83:5'>Psa 83:5</a>). The Palestinian Covenant unites these groups, and that covenant emphasizes the aim of overrunning Israel. Psalms 83 mentions ten nations- perhaps corresponding with the ten toes of Daniel’s image, and the ten horns on the beast which will dominate God’s people in the last days (Daniel 7, Revelation 13). <a href='B:360 3:9'>Joe 3:9</a> is another prophecy of the invasion which happens just before Christ’s return, and it speaks of how the invaders will make a ‘proclamation’ to “sanctify war”- a jihad, a holy war. And that is exactly the rhetoric of the groups now calling for Islamist unity based around a jihad against Israel in order to establish Al-</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>Sham. Syria, then known as Aram, frequently invaded Israel in Bible times. The invasions under the Syrian king Rezin were a result of 'taking evil counsel against' Israel (<a href='B:290 7:5'>Isa 7:5</a>), just as Assyria and her supporters are to do in <a href='B:230 83:3'>Psa 83:3</a>: "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people”:&nbsp;The double emphasis on "Damascus" as being the nerve centre of Rezin's operations (<a href='B:290 7:8'>Isa 7:8</a>), may also be significant in that this very city is now a centre for terrorism against Israel.</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>The intentions of the P:L:O. are “crafty” in that there is the impression given that they seek co-existence with Israel; they are plotting the destruction of Israel and the Jews under the guise of humanism and peaceful intentions. But the Confederacy&nbsp; seeks to destroy Israel, as is evident:</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'>“The Palestinian Covenant declares as its central themes a total repudiation of the existence of Israel</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> the claim that Israel should not exist is implied in almost half of its 33 articles</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> the demand for the demise of Israel becomes a matter of inevitable necessity::. Israelis are barely human creatures who may be tolerated in the Palestinian state as individuals, with their numbers reduced::. The question of how to reduce the number of Jews in a Palestinian state</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> is highlighted by the use of murderous terms against the Israelis” (Y. Harkabi, The Palestinian Covenant And It’s Meaning (Totowa, N:J: Valentine, Mitchell & Co:, 1979) pp:11,13,48). Article 8 of the Palestinian Covenant: “The conflicts among the Palestinian national forces are secondary, and should be ended for the sake of the basic conflict that exists between Zionism</p><p style='margin-left:1:415em'> and the Arab people”. Article 9:&nbsp; “Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. It is the overall strategy”. Yet a willfully naïve world overlooks these statements because they prefer to believe the “crafty counsel” of the Arabs- that they seek for peaceful co-existence with the Jews in Israel.</p>


