Psalm 54 David's Data Breach in Ziph

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After the epigraph, which helps to set the specific context of this psalm, this short, seven-verse psalm gets right after it. There is no gradual build-up, no extended metaphors or subtle poetry. David had a problem and was quite direct in his prayer to the only one who could save him.

The initial epigram reminds us that the Ziphites took David’s personal information and sold it on the dark web to the bad actor, King Saul. They did it twice! The first time was recorded in 1 Samuel 23.

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.” (1 Sam. 23:19-20)

A Ziph-like shot of the Judean Mts. Photo: Greg K. Dueker2011

King Saul commended them for this breach and asked them to keep spying on David (v.22-24). This information dump allowed Saul to hotly pursue David ‘round the mountain until reports of a Philistine raid arrived and Saul had to break off the chase. David named that place seh'-lah hammakh-lek-oth' or “The rock of escape.”

Later, in 1 Samuel 26, the Ziphites informed Saul about David again.

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. (1 Sam. 26:1-3)

The Ziphites, by their treachery, violated the universal law of hospitality they should have kept toward the anointed one who lived in their midst. Understandably, David felt utterly betrayed, yet his focus was on the help of the Lord being better than the help of humanity.

From the beginning of this psalm, he mentions “your name” in parallel with “your might” as the answer to his cry for salvation and longing to be heard.

Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

If God doesn’t do anything in answer to our prayers, then why would David pray so fervently that God would hear his prayer? He prayed that God would “hear” his prayer and give ear to his words because he fully believed that when God hears us, he acts as is natural for him to act—by saving his people, sharing his goodness, and bringing justice down upon the wicked! As I was thinking about the parallel structure of David’s request in v.2, “Hear my prayer/ give ear to the words of my mouth” it caused me to wonder how much of what we say is prayer and even how much of what we say do we want the Lord to hear? Ouch! Instead of ignoring God in my speech, what if “all the words of my mouth” were a prayer?

In v.3 the psalmist refers to “strangers/ ruthless men” … not so much foreign adversaries but those in Israel who did not practice the protective hospitality of God. Instead, they seek to kill the supplicant, which in this case was the young pre-king David. Why would they be so unneighborly? I would say it was the natural result of their selfishness… “They do not set God before themselves.”

Photo by Maël BALLAND on Unsplash

Will we struggle alone trusting our own strength and wisdom to contend for our rights, the respect we feel we deserve, and even a good return on our retirement accounts? Or will we like David trust God to be our “helper/upholder” (v.4)?

Behold, God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Being a helper is not just women’s work (as some misinterpret Gen 2:18,20) it is the faithful work of God! We need more warrior-helpers today! We can all appreciate those who encourage us in our difficulties with their words and actions. What if we, as the body of Christ, were more concerned about upholding others than knocking them down?

Some people are evil and thus unjust. Some show themselves to be our enemies, but it is not our job to destroy them, God will bring their wicked plans back upon them. Their evil intentions will come back to bite them... hard! This is less a Davidic imprecation than a statement of fact about how God works in the lives of his people.

He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your faithfulness put an end to them. (v.5)

I am reminded of a verse in Proverbs that says, “Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.” (Prov. 26:2) In their case there is cause in abundance!

The psalmist confidently declares that he will worship the Lord in an overflow of gratitude for deliverance… even though the deliverance has not happened yet. Let us not miss the “freewill offering” aspect of v. 6. The psalmist sees such sacrificial giving as joyful worship, not a begrudgingly compliant obligation.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. (v.6)

If we wait for everything to be perfect before we worship with our giving, it will likely never happen. There will always be one more problem to face, one more crisis to conquer, one more debt to pay, one more day to wait. The blessing available to us is that we can enter into victorious living even amid hardship if we choose a life of generous gratitude! We can enter the joy of the Lord right now! To this point, Paul commended the glad generosity of the Philippian church in Macedonia who gave despite severe circumstances.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord… (2 Cor. 8:1-3)

In concluding my comments on this psalm, I would say that once we confess, pray, put our trust in the Lord, gratefully worship, and by faith see the future victory we should not forget our testimony. We should be bold in telling the good things that God has done for us. Even if today’s issue has not yet been resolved in our experience, we can testify to how God has delivered us in the past.

For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. (v.7)

What the enemy intends for evil, God in his amazing love can coopt and use for good. Waiting is hardly ever enjoyable, but trusting the Lord can smuggle contentment into almost any difficulty... even this election season. 

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How will we prepare for the coming week? 

Will we proactively ask for God’s help? 

Will we talk to the Lord about all that is happening in our lives? 

Will we respond to the challenges we face this week by committing them to the Lord’s justice and mercy? 

I hope so.

 

Psalm 53 Hearing the Word

Photo: Greg K. Dueker

This psalm is nearly identical to Psalm 14 which I covered a decade ago in a well-read post entitled, Wise Up! However, Psalm 53 has a different target audience. This version may be speaking the words of Psalm 14 to the nations outside Israel rather than the unbelievers within the nation. 

It has often been said that this is the verse to read on April 1 (since in the US, it is known as April Fool’s Day). However, it is too easy to relegate the message of this short psalm to “those other people”, the professed atheists, those who vehemently deny the existence and goodness of God. However, verse 5 suggests that while this psalm originally addressed those who were the enemies of God’s people, and promised not only that they would be utterly destroyed but that history would hold no honor for them as well (God will scatter their bones), the flavor of the psalm as a whole shows the pervasive corruption of humanity (v. 2-3). It should also be said that a "fool" in the biblical sense is not someone who is unintelligent but someone who rejects God and trusts in his own riches (see how this psalm follows 51 and 52).

This reminds me that both insiders and outsiders are in desperate need of God’s mercy and his grace.

In this reflection, I would like to bring verse 1 a little closer to each of us.

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

Author Unknown

Now as believers in the triune God through faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ, we would never say that there is no God. Or would we? I find that whenever it is easy to point the finger at others I am in a dangerous position. When we read a Bible passage or hear a sermon preached, and our first thought is about how another person needs to hear and heed that message, then we have become self-deceived. Instead, in the spirit of ophthalmic log removal (Matt. 7:3-5; Luke 6:41-42), we should internalize the application before projecting it on others. If it is the Holy Spirit’s job to bring a conviction of sin, then we should listen to what he is saying about the condition of our hearts instead of quickly trying to take the devil’s job and accuse others.

What is good and pure in us comes from God not out of our inherent virtue. When we deny the existence of God, or at least the authority of God over our life we cut ourselves off from the great good, understanding, and lovingly wise plan God has in His heart for us. In verse one, we see that the fool denies the existence of God and also find a description of behavior that takes place when humanity denies the existence, power, presence, and goodness of God.

If I were to “bring this verse home,” letting it read my life, instead of projecting its message onto others, I would say that when I sin, it is in moments of practical atheism. When I don’t take the powerfully wise and loving presence of the One True God into consideration I fall into the gravitational pull of self and begin to sin in my attitudes, actions, and inactions. Further, despite my amazing ability to downplay the intensity of my iniquity, my sin brings death and contagious corruption on so many levels. When I don’t walk in relationship with Jesus Christ I quickly fall to the place where the psalmist’s words describe me, and in truth all of us, “They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.”

Anytime that we sin, we are either practical atheists or we are denying the omni-s of his divine nature.

• Omniscient—God is all-knowing. There is no subject in which he needs us to educate him. No area of our lives is hidden from his sight—and yet he still loves us. We don’t need to make excuses because they would never work since He knows our motivation better than we do. Yet, all this knowledge is not abstract and distanced but relational and tender. That leads us to the next point.
• Omnipresent—God is present everywhere. There is nowhere we can go without him being there ahead of us (Psalm 139). We can’t hide from his care, nor are we ever alone and unnoticed. Because He is there all the time, He sees and remembers every kind word we have said, or loving service done for others, even when it seems that no one noticed.
• Omnipotent—God is all-powerful. There is nothing too hard for him. He is no genie in a bottle following rules for wishes. He created everything that exists and holds the nations in the palm of his hands like so much dust on a scale (Isa. 40:12-17). What is our need when compared to his greatness? He is the giver of all good gifts (James 1:17)!

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When tempted to sin, we make God small and distant in our perception. We try to keep him at a safe distance. That allows us to rationalize that he doesn’t know everything and doesn’t understand our situation, or that He isn’t present here and now in our circumstances, and that he either doesn’t have the power to fix our situation or doesn’t care to do so. And above all these misperceptions is the one that denies that we are loved, cherished, and valued by the Father, Son, and Spirit.

We do not need to make a name for ourselves, for any effort at self-glory damages everything it touches. We do not need to maintain our own “kingdoms” of perceived control for it is only the kingdom of God that is of lasting value. The good news is that deliverance, lasting liberty, and pervasive peace come from the Lord, in whom the psalmist put his hope in verse 6,

"Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

 When God restores the fortunes of his people,

                              let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad."

They longed for salvation and trusted that it would come. This salvation to which the psalmist's community looked forward was fulfilled in Jesus... just not necessarily the way they might have thought.

Jesus, the Messiah of God, came and brought salvation that was deeper and wider than expected. It was not for one nation or ethnicity only but for the whole world (Isa. 49:5-6).

In my opinion, the fool of Psalms 14 and 53 is the person who trusts in themselves and refuses to allow their eyes to be opened to the brilliant work of God on their behalf. I am reminded of a passage in the New Testament that connects with this sentiment and offers an invitation.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:8-10)

Only when we can confess our inability to be all that we should be and when we can sorrowfully see the pain our actions have caused (to others and ourselves) will we draw near to God in desperate humble faith and hear him welcome us home, forgiven, in overflowing love.

I could say that this is a message that others need to hear, but I am thankful that the Spirit knows what I need to hear as he searches my heart, honest to God! Join me as we listen together! 

 

Psalm 52 Don't Be A Doeg!

Doeg, slaying the priests at Nob
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This psalm is one of the few written in which we know the specific context that provoked its writing. This psalm is David’s poetic response, where he processed the betrayal and horrific actions of Saul’s head herdsman, Doeg the Edomite. Not only did Doeg rat out David’s location to the increasingly paranoid Saul but he murdered eighty-five innocent priests serving at the Tabernacle. The sad narrative of betrayal, misplaced retribution and a significant slaughter is found in 1 Samuel 22:6-23. It is a narrative all too common down through history. Times when those in power, fearing the loss of that power, act unjustly towards those they perceive as enemies. Some balk at carrying such orders as Saul gave that day (22:17) but there are always wicked people with no such qualms. Not only were eighty-five priests killed at Doeg’s hand but all but one in Nob, their priestly city were slain. “Both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.” (22:19).

Against this backdrop, David writes the words of this short psalm. The opening verses poetically describe Doeg the worker of destruction, particularly focusing on what he had said. The description indicates that Doeg said more than the brief report of 1 Sam. 22:9-10.

“I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

These words sound like a simple report of the facts. However, David’s description suggests that much more was involved—either in its content or its intent.

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
    The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
Your tongue plots destruction,
    like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
    and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
You love all words that devour,
    O deceitful tongue. (Psalm 52:1-4)

Doeg loved evil and lying more than good. Upon such a genuinely wicked man, David pronounced God’s coming judgment.

But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah (v.5)

I am impressed with the parade of parallel imprecatory verbs associated with what God would do to Doeg and those like him.

• 

  Photo by Zhang Kenny on Unsplash

  Break you down: This word communicates a repeated beat down, pulling down and breaking off as of branches from a tree, stones from a wall (2 Kings 25:10), or beams from a house. Another interesting use of this term is regarding the contamination of a house by dread disease/toxic mold (Lev. 14:45). Could we connect Doeg’s inner contagion and the rules for cleansing a house? It sounds like David might have done just that.
• Snatch you up: the picture of being seized quickly for destruction and then dropped like a fiery coal. One moment it was business as usual and the next everything changed for the worse. Judgment is often postponed, but when it comes it snatches suddenly and irrevocably.
• Tear you away: used of being plucked out of one’s house, tent, or land. While God prefers to plant and sow, he also will pluck up and tear down the wicked and treacherous (àProv. 2:22; 15:25; Deut. 28:63)
• Uproot you from: God will pull you out roots and all. No trace will be left in “the land of the living” (àIsa 40:23-24). Where else is such imagery for the traceless demise of the wicked found? Psalm 1:4 may have been in David’s mind since a couple of verses later he refers to himself as a green olive tree (v.8) which correlates with the tree metaphor used for the righteous man in Psalm 1:3.

The folly of wickedness and shortsightedness in trusting our wealth and power instead of making God our refuge becomes evident. It is a pattern from which we should learn to go the other way. Esau despised his birthright for a bowl of soup (Gen. 25). Nabal trusted his wealth and despised David’s request (1 Sam. 25). Many kings sought worldly wealth and power instead of the peace and eternal life found in the One True God. Jesus told the story about the rich fool who built bigger barns without consulting the Lord’s counsel for his selfish indulgence instead of graciously sharing his abundance with others (Luke 12:13-21). In the early church, there was the episode with Ananias and Saphira who made a show of giving but still held back wealth for themselves (Acts 5:1-10). This is only a small sample from an extensive list.

These things were written for our instruction… but will we learn the lesson? Will we be servants of Christ, who though shrewd as serpents are innocent as doves (Mt. 10:16) loving one another and working for the common good? Or will we be like Doeg, excusing our evil desires and shockingly brutal actions as faithful service to an unjust political or economic power? Saying, “I was just following orders,” is no longer an adequate defense. Perhaps it never was.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Later, David’s son Solomon understood how important it was to remove the infection of wicked men from those who govern the people and not allow evil to lobby for injustice. He included it in his collection of proverbs.

Take away the dross from the silver,
    and the smith has material for a vessel;
take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
    and his throne will be established in righteousness. (Prov. 25:4-5)

Notice that not only are there parallels between dross/the wicked, and between the smith/the king, but a righteous throne is like a silver vessel, a serving tool to share with others.

Here, in the situation addressed by Psalm 52  David saw himself like the one described in Psalm 1:1-3 who does not learn the ways of the wicked or participate with sinners and scoffers in their ways and works. Again, his son Solomon would later say something similar in Prov. 24:1-2

Be not envious of evil men,
    nor desire to be with them,
for their hearts devise violence,
    and their lips talk of trouble.

Olives in Jerusalem. Photo: Greg K. Dueker

Instead of emulating wicked men, David’s delight was in the Lord and thus could use the well-watered tree metaphor.

But I am like a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever. (v.8) 

Remember, the psalms give us the vocabulary to express our feelings honestly to the Lord. This one is no different. Here David processes his anger, outrage, and dismay, at what Doeg had done. Yet, instead of taking vengeance into his own hands, he trusted God to handle the situation. He wrote with the confidence of one who has already seen it happen, though it had not. David’s early years are challenging to our culture of self-advancement and demanding our rights. David, though anointed to be king, never took the timing of the fulfillment of that anointing into his own hands.

I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
    in the presence of the godly. (v.9)

Filled with gratitude and goodness, not hate, let us wait for the Lord Jesus Christ along with the community of faith! And while we are waiting, maybe we should cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he cleans our hearts, our words, and our ways… today. 

Psalm 51 Take Not Your Holy Spirit From Me

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This famous psalm contains the penitential prayer of David after his sin with Bathsheba became known. In 2 Samuel 12, the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront David for his sin. To understand the depth of grief in David’s prayer here in Psalm 51, it is helpful to reread how God delivered the message to David that prompted the prayer.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

Allow me to interject here that this is a great metaphor for what sin does… it is the taking, killing, and consuming of another person’s pet lamb or something even more dear. Like any normal person, David was angered by the injustice in Nathan’s report. But there was more to the story.

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. (2 Samuel 12:1-9)

Nathan came to the king with a compelling word picture that allowed David to emotionally pronounce judgment on another person over the hypothetical taking and killing of a poor man’s pet lamb. Perhaps we would like to judge David for this outburst, however, is this not what we all tend to do? Instead of confessing and repenting of our own sins, we often project our guilt onto others. We have created an entire media culture that facilitates this cursed coping mechanism. There is so much we can learn from the Lord and Nathan’s approach, but that is not the focus of this post.

Instead, from Psalm 51, I want to consider how we respond when conviction for our sins comes upon us.

“You are that man!” Oh no!

How do we respond when we become aware of our failure to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and have failed to love our neighbors as ourselves? Will we deny doing anything wrong and embrace a lie, or will we contritely admit the truth and run to our merciful God, our Heavenly Father who loves us?

As the narrative reveals, King David was far from perfect, and he did some horrific things.[1] Yet when he realized that he had sinned, he repented wholeheartedly... with no denials, no excuses, no minimization, and no blaming. He didn't go all "Saul" on the corrective message or the messenger. How do we respond when the Holy Spirit convicts us that we have sinned? Psalm 51 is a great primer on how to confess and repent.

How do we handle guilt over our actions, inactions, attitudes, and thoughts? Do we cover it up or switch to a fight or flight reaction? Or do we realize that God knows the deep truth about us and that the best response is to confess? The reality of our failures is that there will come a time when they can be denied no longer. It is far better to be a quick confessor!

Confession (v. 3-4)

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When we confess, we are saying, “Yep, I did it (i.e., ‘I know my transgressions…’v.3) and you are completely right to judge me” (v.4). David’s conscience had been activated by conviction and now he couldn’t unsee his sin. Further, he recognizes that all sin ultimately was against the Lord. He was not denying that he hurt people but recognizing that the Lord was the ultimate recipient of that hurt… not just the poor man whose lamb was taken but the one who is the Lamb of God as seen in type through the OT sacrificial system.

In verses 5-6, David owned up to his systemic fallenness. Allow me to paraphrase, “I have a sinful nature; it seems that even as an infant I was not sinless, yet you teach me wisdom in my heart/inward being (v.5-6). He knew that God doesn’t wait for perfection before he gets involved in our lives but walks with us and teaches us along the way… if we have ears to hear.

David knew that he had sinned against the heart of God and taken from others that which he could not give back. Yet, because he valued his walk with God he came to God in this prayer of faith and deep humility and asked some honest requests.

Petition: Requests he asked of God…

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Have mercy on me (v.1) and not just any run-of-the-mill mercy but mercy that is “according to your steadfast love.” Mercy is not getting the dreadful thing that you deserve. David knew he deserved death and pleaded for that mercy sourced in and suited for God’s steadfast love (Heb. hesed). And just as that hesed abounds in God’s nature, so David asked for abundant mercy so that his second round of requests might be accomplished. 

     Blot out my transgressions (v.1d,9)

         Wash me thoroughly (v. 2, 7)

               Purge and cleanse me (v.7)

These three requests are all in one accord, asking for the same thing. David wanted to be clean inside and out. While used in parallel, we might see subtle variations on a theme. He wanted to be set free from the guilt of what he had done, washed from all the lingering external residue, and even deep-cleaned on the inside cutting off sin at its root, a prideful heart.

All he experienced until the Lord forgave and restored him was the opposite of joy, but in hope, he prayed, “Let me hear joy and gladness” (for I am consumed with sorrow and regret). David knew something about a right relationship with God—it is the source of joy. As people who have received forgiveness through Jesus Christ, we too should lean into the joy and gladness of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, David humbly asked for healing as he confessed his brokenness (v.8) As a shepherd, David knew that sometimes a shepherd must break the leg of a wandering sheep of its own good. During the recovery time, they are always in the presence of the shepherd and learn that life is better there than wandering among wolves and lions.

Then David wrote/prayed the well-known words that many of us have fervently sung as well as prayed down through the centuries,

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit. (v.10-12)

These three short verses encapsulate the cries of the hearts of all who not only know and mourn their sins but who also know the God who is “slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness.” What might seem at first to be six densely packed requests are three pairings of parallel requests.

In the first pairing, David asked God to create and renew a clean heart/right spirit “within me” where he only knew the stain of his sins and the wrong thinking and sorrow they produced. In the third pairing, we see that the restoration of the joy of salvation (echoing v. 8) is tied to a willing spirit that upholds us in difficulty.

While I can personally relate to David repeatedly asking for cleansing, and renewed joy, it is the relational request of the middle pairing (v.11) that captures my heart this week.

Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me. (v.11)

I propose that neither of the other pairings are possible without the Lord granting this request. Even if we were cleansed, we could not hope to remain so if God removed his presence from us. Not only that but what enduring joy could we have apart from the Spirit? This might not seem important to us because we often undervalue the Holy Spirit. However, David knew what happened to his predecessor—Saul—when because of his stubborn heart and refusal to confess his sin, God had removed his Spirit from him (1 Sam. 16:14). David had witnessed Saul’s torment, jealousy, and fits of homicidal madness all too often. He would not have wanted to be like Saul, and I am sure that such memories added to the intensity of his plea. Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t merely dole out heavenly currency to meet our needs, he gives us his very self! The presence of the Lord is life (1 John 5:11-12).

This psalm is a blessing for those who know they have sinned and long to be right with God. It not only gives us the language to bare our soul before the Lord, but it is also a prayer that God answered for David (the psalmist) and will answer for us today through Jesus Christ! But having been forgiven, will we teach others God's ways, or will we return to our own?

Declaration

Right after this prayer of petition, there is a pledge of faithful living from then on. David declared what he would do upon being cleansed, kept close, and restored to the joy of salvation. He would be an example for others to follow. Something he could not be without the inclusion of both his failures and his repentant faithfulness. He planned to sing aloud and declare God’s praise. Recently on a church worship and prayer night, we sang Cody Carnes’ song Bless God, which includes these lyrics,

Come on and bring your offering
Sing if you've known His grace
Come on and lift up your holy hands
He's worthy of all our praise.

Bless God in the sanctuary
Bless God in the fields of plenty
Bless God in the darkest valley
Every chance I get
I bless Your name.

This is exactly what David said he would do upon experiencing such desperately needed grace. The Lord doesn’t long to smell more burning meat on the sacrificial altar’s grill. He desires a different type of sacrifice—that of “a broken and contrite heart” (v.17).

What is the sign of such a sacrificial heart? It is confession. Instead of walking the path of rationalization, minimization, and deflection, a contrite heart admits its moments of weakness, acts of disobedience, and attitudes of independence and rebellion.

A dozen years ago I commented on this psalm, “In this great psalm of repentance, David acknowledged the kind of sacrifice God accepts...a broken and contrite heart. Such hearts like his are in short supply these days having lost their shelf space to more popular and less helpful indulgences like denial, pride, excuses, pride, technical confession without remorse, and did I mention pride?”

The Holy Spirit Draws Us Back to Jesus

If we have not grown hard of heart and calloused of conscience when we become aware of our sin, our guilty hearts often hear two voices speak—one condemns and the other convicts. We do well to learn the difference.

Condemnation is the voice of the accuser speaking to our fears and shame warning us to get as far away from the angry, judgmental, punitive God as we can, for we no longer deserve his love, and he doesn’t want anything to do with us. Remember that the accuser—Satan—is the father of lies.

The other voice is that of conviction. Conviction is the voice of the Holy Spirit reminding us that we can’t save ourselves and that we need to get to Jesus Christ, the lover of our soul, as quickly as we can, for Jesus is our light, life, and everlasting hope! John tells it straight,

Come unto me...

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9 ESV)

If we are sorry for our sin, and don’t merely turn away from a harmful attitude or behavior but
return to our merciful Lord Jesus we should have no fear that the Holy Spirit will be taken from us.

Remember that God is greater than our hearts (1 John 3:20), so today, instead of self-condemnation, take time to thank the Lord for the forgiveness and cleansing he has given to us! David did.

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[1] [Note: the regular inclusion of the faults and sins of “heroic” biblical characters is solid evidence that the Bible is not propaganda but a true historical narrative.]

Psalm 50 Silent No More

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How often do we wish God would speak to us directly as if we could just hear his voice over the phone? It is a common human response in times of trouble and doubt to wish that God would make his will for our lives clear. I would contend that he has done just that in the scriptures, in the Son, and by the Spirit. However, having God speak truth into our lives is not always well received. What if the truth reveals wrong thinking, speaking, or living on our part? How open are we to correction?

Psalm 50 has some very well-known verses (e.g., God’s ownership of hills full of cattle) in it, but it is really about a seemingly silent God finally telling it like it is. It is a psalm that requires the reader to sit down and buckle up for a dose of revelation about the nature of God and the appropriate response of humanity.

Today, I encourage the reader to see this psalm in light of God speaking to creation in general and to his people in particular.

The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
    God shines forth.

Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
    before him is a devouring fire,
    around him a mighty tempest. (v.1-3)

This “devouring fire and wind imagery is used for the appearance of God’s glory many times in the OT starting with Moses in the presence of God on Sinai (Exodus 24:16-18),

The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Visions of fire and sounds of wind were not only poetic descriptions of theophany (a physical manifestation of the presence of God in a storm) but markers of God moving in a new way on behalf of his people. In the New Testament, at the birth of the church, the presence of the Holy Spirit was indicated by tongues of fire and the sound of a mighty wind (Acts 2:2-3).

While idols are mute and cannot hear or answer the prayers of those who worship them (e.g., Jer. 10:5; Rev. 9:20), the Lord hears, listens, and acts to bring deliverance. In Psalm 50 we don’t have their question and can only imply what it might have been based on the Lord’s response.

“All Rise” Calling Creation to Witness His Righteous Judgment

He calls to the heavens above and to the earth,

          that he may judge his people:

                            “Gather to me my faithful ones,

                               who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

                The heavens declare his righteousness,

 for God himself is judge! (v. 4-6)

Photo by Conny Schneider on Unsplash

Judgment can be scary if we know we are guilty. I am so thankful that God is the one who sacrificed himself for us. He is the one who makes us faithful. He is the one who calls and gathers us to himself. It is time for us to stop wearing our worn-out "I can fix it" lab coats of self-sufficiency and cling to the Lord who does all things well! While God is a judge when he has to be, he is not primarily a judge, for before the fall there was nothing to judge. When God judges, it is a function of his overflowing love. We should note who is being judged here to fully understand the situation. Here, the judgment involves those who are described as “his people” and “my faithful ones.”

God’s perfect beauty shines forth (v.2). He does not keep silent (v.3). He set up the courtroom scene, as we just read when he called all of creation as witnesses and then he testified against his people (v.7). As he spoke the truth in love, he didn’t reject his people in condemnation. Rather it was more of a convicting refresher course in theology and godly living. The people fundamentally misunderstood God and their role in his kingdom. Their view of the Lord had come to be shaped more by pagan culture than by God’s word. As a result, the Lord spoke frankly, like a loving Father. In the end, what they should have been doing was easier, and more heart-based, than what they had been doing. Though written to Israelites some 3,000 years ago, there is wisdom in this passage for us as well. Here are four simple lessons we can take from this psalm.

• We need to have a right understanding of God and his motives.
• We need to be careful what we do with his words. It will impact our heart’s desires and everything that flows from them.
• We should be careful what we do with our words.
• We should take his lesson to heart and be thankful.

Okay, these lessons are more like topical folders filled with many other lessons.

 

Photo by Yang🙋‍♂️🙏❤️ Song on Unsplash

“I’m Not Hungry”— Clearing out the Cattle (v.9-15)

How have our false ideas about God and his motivation shaped our lives and spiritual practices? Have we elevated our sense of self-importance to think that God needs what we can provide or that by what we provide we can curry his favor? The shocking truth is that he doesn’t need us but knows that we need him. The people thought that animal sacrifices were the answer to everything, and certainly to getting what they wanted from God. Here, the Lord makes it clear that he doesn’t want or need more animal sacrifices.

  "If I were hungry,

      I would not tell you,

             for the world and its fullness are mine.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

                     and perform your vows to the Most High,

           and call upon me in the day of trouble;

     I will deliver you,

and you shall glorify me." (v.12-15)

Sacrifice-loading doesn’t make God happy. It’s like he was saying, “You can’t buy me off with barbecued bulls and goats. It’s time to clear out the cattle.” The truth is, he is not so interested in our stuff...it’s all his anyway. That might be comforting to think he is not “in it for the money” but are we comforted to learn that what we thought was ours is really his?

God not only stated the problem but the solution. His people should be thankful, keep their promises, and depend on him (not their own bright ideas), and he will deliver them. We learn that, amazingly, we will glorify him by being thankful and keeping our promises.

When everything is already God's, he is not dependent upon us—a humbling thought. The sacrifices he is looking for are decidedly less messy and more relational. We are simply to offer thanks for his abundant goodness towards us, and as a result, we are to do what we say we will do, trusting him to deliver us.

Again, in this psalm, God makes it clear that He doesn't need nor want animal sacrifices...it's not like he is hungry or something, and besides everything is already his! What the Lord desires is that we are thankful for what he provides. Gratitude puts us in a position to be delivered in our time of need, and to bring glory to God.

God's faithfulness is not questioned, nor is our salvation by grace. However, thankfulness /gratitude is shown to be the appropriate way for us to draw near to God.

Throwing Out Love Letters & Casting Off Restraint

The Lord says we have no right to expect the benefits of covenant promises when we are not willing to live under the covenant (v.16). What was the most important part of the OT Covenant Law? It was the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9).

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Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The heart of the law was about loving God with one’s total being and that involved hearing and keeping (i.e., remembering and obeying) his words. But in Psalm 50 God says some should not try to invoke covenant promises for they had cast off restraint,

“For you hate discipline,
     and you cast my words behind you.” (v.17)

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This is the opposite of his words being on/in their hearts. It reminds me of the Parable of the Sower where some of the seed falls on the hardened ground of the path and the devil comes like birds and snatches it away. 

In verse 17, we see their active dismissal of precious words spoken by their loving Lord. Such a dismissal quickly led to a tragic failure of discernment and values (v.18). Similarly, what right do we have to complain about God’s “situational silence” when we have cast his written and timeless words “behind our backs”?

We’ve Been Charged—Throwing Our Words at Others

Not only had some among God’s people cast his words behind their backs, but they had also thrown their deceptive and slanderous words at each other. It is as though they had thrown the many lessons about our words/tongue from Proverbs 12 away.

“You give your mouth free rein for evil,

         and your tongue frames deceit.

You sit and speak against your brother;

you slander your own mother's son.

These things you have done,

                    and I have been silent;

you thought that I was one like yourself.

            But now I rebuke you and

     lay the charge before you." (v.19-21)

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

This psalm, better known for its "cattle on a thousand hills" section also contains this rebuke. A wrong view of God leads to harmful thinking and twisted desires that overflow in our words and deeds. What comes out of our mouth? Do we support evil ideas and deceitful plans? How do we speak about others? How do we treat our families? The psalmist makes it clear that just because God doesn't immediately zap us with a lightning bolt doesn't mean he is okay with our behavior. Rather, he is patient with us, waiting for us to repent and return to him, but if we demand justice, he will bring it and who can then deliver us? I for one don't want to give God any more grounds to judge my speech (Mt. 12:36). How about you? Whatever uncleanness is in our hearts comes out through our mouths to the harm of others! God had been patiently silent, but now was making his thoughts clear. Later, in the New Testament, John instructed the church that they couldn’t say they loved God when they hated other people (1 John 4:20).

Take Care!

           The psalm wraps up quickly with a review of what is necessary to remember and allow to shape how we live our lives.

"Mark this, then, you who forget God,

lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" (v.22-23)

In this psalm God lets us know that he doesn't need us to barbecue for him and that anything we give to him is already his, he also tells his faithful people to upgrade their worship by offering “the sacrifice of thanksgiving" and do what they have promised. Then, after warning the wicked not to fool themselves into thinking that God thinks and acts as they do, we get this verse that sternly warns the wicked to repent and develop a heart of gratitude for God's grace. Why? Because the Lord wants to show us all His salvation! When we are thankful to God, we are learning to see what he is showing us and trusting that it flows from his steadfast and eternal love for us.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Thankful hearts will always lead us home, into the twin blessings of both humility and joy. And when we are grateful, to the LORD, we will be open to hearing what he says next. And whatever it is, he says it because he takes great care of us!