Psalm 22

¹My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
² O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, and am not silent.

³ But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
⁴ Our fathers trusted in You;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
⁵ They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

⁶ But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
⁷ All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
⁸ “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

⁹ But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
¹⁰ I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother’s womb
You have been My God.
¹¹ Be not far from Me,
For trouble is near;
For there is none to help.

¹² Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
¹³ They gape at Me with their mouths,
Like a raging and roaring lion.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It has melted within Me.
¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.

¹⁶ For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
¹⁷ I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
¹⁸ They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.

¹⁹ But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
²⁰ Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
²¹ Save Me from the lion’s mouth
And from the horns of the wild oxen!

You have answered Me.

²² I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴ For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.

²⁵ My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
²⁶ The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
²⁸ For the kingdom is the Lord’s,
And He rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.

³⁰ A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
³¹ They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

This is “the great messianic psalm.” In case you missed the obvious reference in the first verse (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”), maybe you caught it in verse 14 (“I am poured out like water…my heart is like wax; it has melted within me”). But if you missed that one too, there’s verses 16-18 that are quite hard to miss.

The whole first 2/3 of this psalm are devoted to the suffering of the Messiah. In the first stanza, God has forsaken him. God no longer hears him, as we know, when Christ takes on the sins of the world (forgive my use and not use of capital letters, but things are confusing when every “he” is capitalized but don’t refer to the same person). The second stanza affirms that the Messiah still does not lose his faith in God, even when he is severely humiliated in the face of his enemies (stanza 3). In stanza 4, we go back to seeing the Messiah’s trust in God, and the fact that he has been faithful to God since the moment of his birth. In the next stanza, everything turns back to the enemies of the Messiah, who are now characterized as “bulls” and “lions” in verses 12 and 13. They are savage like animals (as opposed to more gentle animals, like, say, lambs that they might tear apart). The following two stanzas (verses 14-18) prophesy his suffering rather accurately. Finally, in verses 19-21, he turns back to God, still not losing his faith and asks for deliverance again.

You have answered Me.

I love the way that the editors of this version have set this line apart from the rest of the verse. It is the turning point of the psalm. Before it, we have the Messiah surrounded by savage enemies and suffering horribly at their hands, but then God hears him. After this point the psalm turns into a praise of God. It’s almost as if these words fill in for the resurrection. The most pivotal moment in, well, everything.

Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever!

The excitement in these lines is so apparent. Throughout the last third of this psalm, we are reminded to praise the Lord. Are you in the assembly? Praise Him. Do you fear Him? Praise Him. Descendant of Jacob? Praise Him. Do you seek Him? Praise Him. All the ends of the world, all the families of nations, all the earth, even the people who cannot support themselves, will remember what God has done for us and, that's right, will praise Him!

A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, they will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this

That’s us! Posterity means “future generations,” by the way. All the generations after the event will pass along to the next generation the message of Christ and of a righteous God. It’s easy to get caught up in legalistic portions of Christianity. But, even before Christ was born, this psalm points out the only important pieces, praising God and remembering the Messiah.

Psalm 21

¹The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord;
And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
² You have given him his heart’s desire,
And have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

³ For You meet him with the blessings of goodness;
You set a crown of pure gold upon his head.
⁴ He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever.
⁵ His glory is great in Your salvation;
Honor and majesty You have placed upon him.
⁶ For You have made him most blessed forever;
You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence.
⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord,
And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.

⁸ Your hand will find all Your enemies;
Your right hand will find those who hate You.
⁹ You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger;
The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.
¹⁰ Their offspring You shall destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from among the sons of men.
¹¹ For they intended evil against You;
They devised a plot which they are not able to perform.
¹² Therefore You will make them turn their back;
You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.

¹³ Be exalted, O Lord, in Your own strength!
We will sing and praise Your power.

And have not withheld the request of his lips

Verses 1-7 concentrates on the blessings that God has given, specifically to David. But, I think it’s important to realize that He can give us all these things too. We just need to ask for them and trust in God. Notice, also, how it doesn’t say that David did anything to deserve these things. In fact, David arguably did a lot of things to not deserve this. We all sin, even though we are in Christ. It’s in our nature. Now, we shouldn’t let that be an excuse, but it should make us realize that we could never be good enough, we could never do anything to earn anything from God. All He asks is that we trust in Him.

Your hand will find all Your enemies

I’m not about fire and brimstone, but it is a common request in the Psalms that God get rid of enemies. I think the real issue that arises is one of forming a sort of utopia, in which everyone trusts in the one true God. I’m not saying that we can’t learn anything from this, but the Old Testament was about destroying those who didn’t believe in God. Christ, however, taught that we should go to the people and teach them about our God rather than just killing them all on sight. I, for one, am glad about this rule change. We can’t be the ones who do the judging, though. Paul was a persecutor of Christians, one of these people David would have been praying against. Still, God used him too. So, I think we have to amend the Psalm a little and take the enemies of God as the people who knowingly turn their backs on God. And, rather than praying that people get dead, maybe we should be praying that they find God.

Psalm 20

 

¹May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
² May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion;
³ May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah

⁴ May He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.
⁵ We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.

⁹ Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call.

In this psalm, the poet asks that the Lord always grand our prayers. God will answer us when we’re in trouble and send us help for it. He will also grant our heart’s desires. And, for that, we rejoice in Him. I like the image in the line, “And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!” I love ancient battles. Sometimes it’s hard for us to imagine how important the standards were to people who carried them into battle. To the Romans, their eagle that they carried into battle was not to be lost at any cost, and if it was, they went to great lengths to get it back. As much as I disliked that movie, The Eagle, they got that part right. Remember in our discussion of Psalm 11when the Romans didn’t wait for Caesar’s order and went out into a dangerous situation? Well, Caesar praises the eagle-bearer because he fought bravely, and knowing that he was going to be killed, threw the eagle into the camp’s entrenchment to get it away from the enemies. It’s the reason we have color guards, too. Standards are the symbol of the thing we are fighting for, that we care about the most, that we give our all for. God has already given everything for us, is giving everything for us. It shouldn’t be hard for us to  uphold Him as our banner.

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed

I know sometimes people and churches get hung up on who these “anointed” are, but I think it is clear that the Bible means those who serve Him. David was anointed, literally, as a symbol that he would become king. But, it happened before Saul was dead, before David was even getting close to being king. The anointing was a symbol that David was going to follow God’s commandments, as opposed to Saul, who had stopped following God (which, of course is the reason he needed a replacement). It’s not just about kings, it’s about all of us believing in God and following his plans for us. After all, we’ve seen in previous psalms that God always saves anyone who trusts in Him, so I think it’s safe to say that they are the anointed.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God*

Again the image of God as a military leader shows up. While some people trust in their own strength or in the strength of numbers, we trust in our general, God, because he saves us: “Save, Lord!”

 

*I sat here reading this line over and over wondering why it was so familiar to me. Then I realized that it was a Sappho poem in my head. She wrote, “Οἰ μὲν ἰππήων στρότον, οἰ δὲ πέσδων, οἰ δὲ νάων φαῖσ’ ἐπὶ γᾶν μέλαιναν ἔμμεναι κάλλιστον, ἐγὼ δὲ κῆν’ ὄττω τις ἔραται,” which means, “Some say that an army of horsemen, others an army of foot soldiers, and others a fleet of ships is the most beautiful thing upon the black earth, but I say that it is whatever thing one loves.” Sappho goes on to talk about pretty people, but wouldn’t it be great if we applied this same principle. The strength of people, no matter how big or impressive, is nothing compared to God, whom we love best.

Psalm 19

¹The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
² Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
⁴ Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
⁵ Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
⁶ Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork

I love the sky. It’s always so interesting to look at. Clouds are always cropping up in different formations and light scatters through it in different colors and patterns. And night is just as awesome with thousands of stars and the ever-changing moon. A lot of us already associate the wonders of the sky with God. This verse affirms that it is a clear sign of His handiwork, His creation. The whole first stanza reaffirms that the sky, night and day, reveals God’s glory to us, and there is no place on earth, no culture in which those wonders cannot be seen.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul

In these two verses, law, testimony, statutes, and commandment have the same force. They are the Word of God, which is indeed perfect, sure, right, and pure. Then the commandments of God convert our souls, make us wise, cause us to rejoice, and enlighten us. My Bible study group looked at these verses a few months ago. Someone pointed out that we often think of laws as things that restrict us, but these laws are described as sweeter than honey, and in keeping them, we are freed.

Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins

I had no idea what “presumptuous” meant. So, I looked it up in the Septuagint. I still don’t know. The word is ἀλλότριος. It’s difficult to pin down a good English translation for it, but it’s something like “as if belonging to someone else” and therefore unnatural or hostile. The Latin Vulgate uses superbus, which means “haughty” or “arrogant.” Many of the Psalms in English took their translations from the Vulgate because until that point, that’s what people were reading, not the original Hebrew or even the Greek. So, that’s probably where the “presumptuous” is coming from. It’s interesting that even the earliest translators seem to not know what to do with this word. Young’s literal translation, which prides itself on translating literally from Hebrew, also uses “presumptuous,” so I guess I’m going to have to assume the Greek is the outlier. That was a lot to say just to get back to the beginning, but always a good exercise for me. If we do take that reading, it’s contrasting with the “secret” sins in the verse before.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer

Our words and our thoughts need to always be on God. And, when his glory is so apparent in the sky itself, how can we ignore him? Y’know, assuming your office isn’t in a corner of the basement with no windows. But even though mine is, do you know the first thing I notice when I go into a room with windows or actually go outside? That’s right, the sky. It’s always there and it can’t be overlooked. It is the proof of God’s hand in His creation.