The Psalms (Vol. 1) E-Book

James Johnston

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Preaching the Word
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 876

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

The Psalms is one of the most widely loved books of the Bible. A source of instruction for our prayers, inspiration for our songs, and consolation for our tears, these biblical poems resound with the whole spectrum of human emotion and teach us to hope in God each and every day. In the first volume of a three-part commentary on the Psalms, pastor James Johnston walks readers through chapters 1–44, offering exegetical and pastoral insights along the way. In an age that prizes authenticity, this resource will help anyone interested in studying, teaching, or preaching the Bible to truly engage with God in a life-changing and heart-shaping way. Part of the Preaching the Word series.

Leseprobe

((( PREACHING the WORD )))

THE PSALMS

REJOICE,the LORD IS KING

Volume 1 - Psalms 1 to 41

JAMES A. JOHNSTON

R. Kent Hughes

Series Editor

Psalms, Volume 1 - Psalms 1 to 41

© 2015 by James A. Johnston

Published by Crossway1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Jon McGrath, Simplicated Studio

Cover image: Adam Greene, illustrator

First printing 2015

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture references marked NKJV are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4335-3355-6ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3358-7PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3356-3Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3357-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johnston, James A., 1966–

The Psalms : rejoice, the Lord is king / James A.Johnston ; R. Kent Hughes, series editor.

1 online resource. — (Preaching the word)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN 978-1-4335-3356-3 (pdf) – ISBN 978-1-4335-3357-0 (mobi) – ISBN 978-1-4335-3358-7 (epub) – ISBN 978-1-4335-3355-6 (hc)

1. Bible. Psalms—Commentaries. I. Title.

BS1430.53

223'.207—dc23              2014041385

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

To my wife, Lisa JohnstonHer delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law she meditates day and night.

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.PSALM 2:11, 12

Contents

A Word to Those Who Preach the WordIntroduction: The Lord Reigns! Opening the Book of Psalms1 Blessed Is the Man (Psalm 1)2 Let Earth Receive Her King (Psalm 2)3 God Save the King (Psalm 3)4 Trusting God in a Bad Economy (Psalm 4)5 The God Who Hears Prayer (Psalm 5)6 How Long, O Lord? (Psalm 6)7 A Prayer for Justice (Psalm 7)8 How Majestic Is Your Name! (Psalm 8)9 Praise Him for His Justice (Psalm 9)10 God, Where Are You? (Psalm 10)11 Faith or Flight? (Psalm 11)12 Deliver Us from Deception (Psalm 12)13 How Long? (Psalm 13)14 I Am the Problem (Psalm 14)15 The Ultimate Question (Psalm 15)16 An Easter Psalm (Psalm 16)17 Lord, Hear My Prayer (Psalm 17)18 The Lord Is My Rock (Psalm 18)19 The Skies and the Scriptures (Psalm 19)20 The Faith of Israel (Psalm 20)21 Jesus’ Joy (Psalm 21)22 The Psalm of the Cross (Psalm 22)23 The Lord Is Christ’s Shepherd (Psalm 23)24 The King of Glory (Psalm 24)25 He Will Never Let You Down (Psalm 25)26 The Man of Integrity (Psalm 26)27 My Light and My Salvation (Psalm 27)28 My Strength and My Shield (Psalm 28)29 The Lord of the Storm (Psalm 29)30 Resurrection Song (Psalm 30)31 Be Strong and Wait for the Lord (Psalm 31)32 The Blessing of Forgiveness (Psalm 32)33 Shout for Joy! (Psalm 33)34 Taste and See (Psalm 34)35 My Savior Will Defend Me (Psalm 35)36 God’s Steadfast Love (Psalm 36)37 Don’t Envy the Wicked (Psalm 37)38 A King’s Confession (Psalm 38)39 Waiting in Silence (Psalm 39)40 He Set My Feet on a Rock (Psalm 40)41 The Blessing of Christ (Psalm 41)NotesScripture IndexGeneral IndexIndex of Sermon Illustrations

A Word to Those Who Preach the Word

There are times when I am preaching that I have especially sensed the pleasure of God. I usually become aware of it through the unnatural silence. The ever-present coughing ceases, and the pews stop creaking, bringing an almost physical quiet to the sanctuary—through which my words sail like arrows. I experience a heightened eloquence, so that the cadence and volume of my voice intensify the truth I am preaching.

There is nothing quite like it—the Holy Spirit filling one’s sails, the sense of his pleasure, and the awareness that something is happening among one’s hearers. This experience is, of course, not unique, for thousands of preachers have similar experiences, even greater ones.

What has happened when this takes place? How do we account for this sense of his smile? The answer for me has come from the ancient rhetorical categories of logos, ethos, and pathos.

The first reason for his smile is the logos—in terms of preaching, God’s Word. This means that as we stand before God’s people to proclaim his Word, we have done our homework. We have exegeted the passage, mined the significance of its words in their context, and applied sound hermeneutical principles in interpreting the text so that we understand what its words meant to its hearers. And it means that we have labored long until we can express in a sentence what the theme of the text is—so that our outline springs from the text. Then our preparation will be such that as we preach, we will not be preaching our own thoughts about God’s Word, but God’s actual Word, his logos. This is fundamental to pleasing him in preaching.

The second element in knowing God’s smile in preaching is ethos—what you are as a person. There is a danger endemic to preaching, which is having your hands and heart cauterized by holy things. Phillips Brooks illustrated it by the analogy of a train conductor who comes to believe that he has been to the places he announces because of his long and loud heralding of them. And that is why Brooks insisted that preaching must be “the bringing of truth through personality.” Though we can never perfectly embody the truth we preach, we must be subject to it, long for it, and make it as much a part of our ethos as possible. As the Puritan William Ames said, “Next to the Scriptures, nothing makes a sermon more to pierce, than when it comes out of the inward affection of the heart without any affectation.” When a preacher’s ethos backs up his logos, there will be the pleasure of God.

Last, there is pathos—personal passion and conviction. David Hume, the Scottish philosopher and skeptic, was once challenged as he was seen going to hear George Whitefield preach: “I thought you do not believe in the gospel.” Hume replied, “I don’t, but he does.” Just so! When a preacher believes what he preaches, there will be passion. And this belief and requisite passion will know the smile of God.

The pleasure of God is a matter of logos (the Word), ethos (what you are), and pathos (your passion). As you preach the Word may you experience his smile—the Holy Spirit in your sails!

R. Kent Hughes

Introduction

The Lord Reigns!

OPENING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

The Psalms are one of the most dearly loved books in the Bible. For generations, they have been one of our greatest treasures as God’s people.

Most of the psalms were written for Israel’s temple worship. We know this because fifty-five are dedicated to the Director of Music, several more were written for specific parts of the temple worship service, and twenty-four are connected with temple musicians like the Sons of Korah.1 The Psalms reflect the prayer and praise of ancient Israel.

In the New Testament, Jesus probably sang Psalm 118 with his disciples before they left the upper room for the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30).2 When Peter and John were arrested, the early church prayed with the words of Psalm 2 (Acts 4:25ff.). Paul leaned heavily on the Psalms as he wrote the book of Romans. Paul also commands us to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:18b, 19a, NKJV). The Psalms were at the heart of spiritual life for the early church.

The Psalms were prominent in the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. Before Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, he had lectured on the Psalms for over two years.3 His Christ-centered interpretation of the Psalms helped forge the doctrine of the Reformation. The Psalms were also a key part of the development of Protestant worship. To move away from the Latin Mass, the Reformers introduced congregational singing based in large part on metrical psalms.4 The Psalms were so important to Protestant worship that the first book printed in North America was the Bay Psalm Book in 1644. So we owe much of our worship and theology as Protestants to the Psalms.

We treasure the Psalms in our own day too. Many of our favorite songs and hymns are portions of a psalm or a paraphrase. We go to the Psalms when we’re laughing and when we’re crying. Amazingly, they often say what we feel but couldn’t find the words to describe. We quote Psalm 104 at Thanksgiving. After the September 11 attacks, the service held in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. included portions from Psalm 46, Psalm 27, and Psalm 23.

So it is exciting to open the Psalms for ourselves. Charles Spurgeon called his commentary of the Psalms The Treasury of David—a good title because God’s Word is “more to be desired . . . than gold, even much fine gold” (19:10). We are opening the door to a treasure chamber. If our hearts are open to God’s Spirit, this focused time in the Psalms will change us. We will learn to pray as we pray with the psalmist. We will learn to praise as we worship God with David. The Psalms are as deep as the ocean; they are wide as human experience; they will carry us to spiritual heights.

We can set the table for our study of the Psalms by making three main observations about the Psalms in general. The Psalms are truth, the Psalms are poems, and the Psalms are a book.

The Psalms Are Truth

First, the Psalms are truth. They are Scripture that God inspired by his Holy Spirit to teach and instruct us. The Psalms are a rich source of doctrine. They speak to our minds.

The Psalms Are Torah

We see this emphasis on thinking in the opening verses of the Psalms. Psalm 1 introduces the whole book with these words.

[B]ut his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night. (1:2)

The word law is the Hebrew word torah, which means instruction that comes from God.5 The Psalms are divine revelation. We are to read and receive the Psalms as God’s Word and think hard about what they say.6 The call to meditate is a call to reflect and go deep.

This becomes even clearer when we notice that the Psalms are the whole Old Testament in miniature. In a real sense, this one book encapsulates Genesis to Malachi.

Think about how much of the Old Testament is in the Psalms. The Psalms deal with creation, the call of Abraham, the exodus, the Law of Moses, the monarchy, Israel’s disobedience, the exile, the return, and the hope of a greater kingdom. The psalmists were reading their Bible, and often they reflected on what God had already said through Moses and the prophets as the Holy Spirit led them. On top of that, the Psalms make up the only book of the Old Testament that was written over the course of one thousand years of Israel’s history.7

This means that to study the Psalms is to study the whole Old Testament. Opening the Psalms is a call to think and reflect on Genesis through Malachi and beyond.

Most Quoted Book in the New Testament

Then add to this the fact that the Psalms are the Old Testament book most quoted in the New Testament. Jesus and the apostles consistently turned to the Psalms to preach the kingdom of God and establish key doctrines.

During the last week of Jesus’ life, he used Psalms 8, 118, and 110 to silence the chief priests and scribes in the temple (Matthew 21:16, 42; 22:44). When the early church was wondering whether to replace Judas, they turned to Psalm 69 (Acts 1:20). When Peter preached at Pentecost, he used Psalms 16 and 110 to teach Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2:25–36). Paul taught salvation by faith from Psalm 32 (Romans 4:6–8). Peter teaches believers to return good for evil based on Psalm 34 (1 Peter 3:9–12).

So the first observation I want to make as we start this study of the Psalms is that the Psalms are truth from God that is meant to teach and instruct us. The Psalms engage our minds with doctrine.

The Psalms Are Poems

The second observation is that the Psalms are poems. Not only do they speak to our minds, as poetry they speak to our hearts. Reading the Psalms engages both the right brain and the left brain, the intellect and the emotions, thinking and feeling.

We can see these two dimensions—the heart and the head—at the very beginning of the Psalms. Look again at Psalm 1:2.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

God blesses the man who both delights (heart) in his Law and meditates (head) on it. In fact, he mentions the heart first, suggesting that the reason a man thinks carefully about God’s Word is because he has already come to love it. We treasure the Word before we ponder it and dwell on what it means.

As poetry, the Psalms are designed to engage our hearts so that our whole being will engage with God’s Word.

Hebrew Poetry

Hebrew poetry is not based on rhyme, rhythm, and meter like most western poetry. Instead the main technique of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. So the key movements within a psalm are often from one line to another as the psalmist takes a thought and gives it a slight turn.

We should be very glad that, in God’s providence, Hebrew poetry is not like ours. Western poetry does not translate well into other languages because it is usually based on rhyme, rhythm, and meter. If you know another language, try translating “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue.” Chances are, it will fall flat.8 But the genius of Hebrew poetry is that since it is based on parallelism, it “remains poetry in any language you translate it into.”9

Poetry to Engage the Heart

As poetry, the Psalms engage our emotions in various ways. For one thing, they were meant to be sung. The name psalm comes from the Greek word psalmos, which is a translation of the Hebrew word mizmor. Both words mean a song accompanied by musical instruments, particularly a harp.10

The Psalms also engage our hearts with figures of speech. The writers are poets—artists with words. They paint pictures that linger like a good cup of coffee. The psalmist does not say, “The people are sad,” but he says, “You have fed them with the bread of tears” (80:5). He doesn’t say, “You made him happy,” but he says, “God . . . has anointed you with the oil of gladness” (45:7). He doesn’t just say, “Protect me,” but he says, “[H]ide me in the shadow of your wings” (17:8). When we read the Psalms, we need to use our imaginations; we are supposed to picture and feel what we are reading.11

Poems that Express Emotions

Beyond the poetry, the men who wrote the Psalms also pour out an amazing array of emotions. Here is a short list.12

Loneliness: “I am lonely and afflicted” (25:16).Love: “I love you, O LORD, my strength” (18:1).Sorrow: “my life is spent with sorrow” (31:10).Discouragement: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (42:5).Shame: “shame has covered my face” (44:15).Exultation: “In your salvation how greatly he exults” (21:1).Fear: “Serve the LORD with fear” (2:11).Peace: “in peace I will both lie down and sleep” (4:8).Gratitude: “I will thank you in the great congregation” (35:18).Confidence: “though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” (27:3).

The Psalms wake up our emotions to respond to God and to life like we should. No other book so powerfully shapes our minds and our hearts. Through the Psalms, we can adapt our thinking and feeling to be in line with the heart and mind of God.13

In case you’re a man who thinks emotions are a sign of weakness, remember that David was a man’s man—he could take down any three of us in hand-to-hand combat—yet his heart was soft toward God. He was a scholar, soldier, and poet at the same time. So the Psalms challenge us men especially to be more fully ourselves, to be true men like David.

The Psalms engage our hearts and minds, our thinking and feeling. They are truth, and they are poetry.

The Psalms Are a Book

Our third observation is that the Psalms are a book. More specifically, the Psalms are a book made up of five smaller books (Psalms 1—41; 42—72; 73—89; 90—106; 107—150). Each of these five smaller books is like a section of the larger book. Based on these five main sections, there is an order that runs through the book of Psalms as a whole.

When I was five years old, I was sitting with my mother in a chapel service at St. Paul Bible College14 while my dad was preaching. Since I was fidgeting, my mom gave me her beaded necklace to look at, hoping that would keep me still. Well, wouldn’t you know it, as I twisted the necklace in my hands, the string broke, and all the beads went clattering on the floor. To make it even worse, the chapel sloped forward and we were sitting in the back. So for twenty long seconds, these beads clattered down the tile floor toward the front—toward my dad.

Many people look at the Psalms like beads on a necklace—they are strung together, but they don’t have much to do with each other. In fact, the Psalms have been carefully put together, in order, for a purpose.15 This is a book.

A Book about Christ

The Psalms are a book about Christ. Jesus himself taught his disciples that the Psalms prophesied about him. He said in Luke 24:44, “Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke’s grammar actually suggests that the apostles and early church counted the Psalms as part of the Prophets.16 In fact, when Peter preached at Pentecost, he argued that David was indeed a prophet (Acts 2:30).

Psalms 1 and 2 are an introduction for the whole book of Psalms. Psalm 1 introduces us to the ideal man who loves God’s Word and lives by it. Psalm 2 identifies this ideal man as the King God set on the throne.17 The word “anointed” in Psalm 2 is the word messiah in Hebrew or christ in Greek. There are a number of issues involved here, but the New Testament is quick to recognize that Psalm 2 was pointing forward to Jesus (e.g., Acts 4:25, 26; 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5). As the Christ, he is God’s King. “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill” (2:6).

According to Psalm 2, the world hates this King; it schemes and fights against him. But God is on his side, and Christ will rule with power to judge the world.

In a real sense, the rest of the book of Psalms is about this King, his kingdom, and his people. What will happen to God’s King? Will life be easy or will he have trouble? What will his enemies do? How will God protect him and give him victory? What will happen to his people? Will their lives be easy or hard? Will the world finally follow this King? The promise of a King in Psalm 2 is a key for understanding the whole book of Psalms.18 Fundamentally this book is about Christ.

The background for this King is the covenant that God made with David in 2 Samuel 7.19 God promised David that one of his descendants would rule forever.

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. . . . And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:12, 13, 16)

This great Son of David is the King who is introduced in Psalm 2. David is not only his ancestor but also the model for who this King would be. David’s experience as God’s anointed king foreshadows what Christ experienced as God’s greater Anointed King. These are not random poems as David reflects on his life. Augustine called Jesus isti cantator psalmorum, himself the singer of the Psalms, because when David speaks in the Psalms, he is speaking for Christ. In our day Old Testament scholar Derek Kidner said:

It would scarcely seem too much to infer . . . that wherever David or the Davidic king appears in the Psalter . . . he foreshadows in some degree the Messiah.20

With this in mind, the Psalms are about Christ in several ways. On the one hand, they make specific predictions that were fulfilled in Christ. On a deeper level, the Psalms point forward to Christ through the life, words, emotions, and experiences of King David as a whole.21 In the Psalms King David is a model of the great King to come.

What Story DoesIt Tell?

With this in mind, then, we can sketch out the general shape of the Psalms as a whole book. To understand how the Psalms tell the story, think of a oratorio like Handel’s Messiah. Maybe classical music isn’t your thing, so think of a musical like Oklahoma or Les Misèrables. Each song can stand alone, but put them together in order and they tell a story. The Psalms are the same way—each can stand alone, but together they tell a story from beginning to end.

This story begins with Israel during the time of David and Solomon, continues through the exile, and ends when God has returned the people to the land. Books 1 and 2 focus especially on David and his kingdom. Books 3 and 4 reflect the troubles and questions Israel faced during the exile in Babylon. Book 5 looks forward after the exile.

Book 1 covers Psalms 1— 41. All of these psalms were written by David except one (Psalm 33) or possibly two (though Psalm 10 may be part of Psalm 9, which was written by David). The focus is clearly on David’s experience as king. Even though David was God’s anointed, his life was hard and he faced deadly foes. If we had to summarize these first forty psalms, we could say that the theme of Book 1 is, “God rescues his king from his enemies.”

Psalm 41:11, 12 summarizes this first book well. David says,

By this I know that you delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

But you have upheld me because of my integrity,

and set me in your presence forever.

Book 2 includes Psalms 42—72. The first thing we notice is that David is not the author of the first nine psalms. Instead they are connected with a group of Levites called “the Sons of Korah” (Psalms 42— 49)22 and Asaph, one of David’s choirmasters (Psalm 50). What’s the point? The focus is no longer on David, the king, individually, but now these psalms describe the experience of God’s people.

Yet the people cannot be separated from the king; as the king goes, so goes the nation. Most of the psalms in Book 2 are still written by David. Yet since the book begins and ends by speaking for the people as a whole, David’s psalms in Book 2 are framed by the people’s experience.

The last psalm in this book, Psalm 72, reminds us that when the king is blessed, the whole world is blessed.

May his name endure forever,

his fame continue as long as the sun!

May people be blessed in him,

all nations call him blessed! (72:17)

To summarize Book 2, we could say that the theme is, “God rescues his people from their enemies through his king.”

Psalms 2 and 72 seem like bookends that bind Books 1 and 2 together with their focus on the greatness of the king. Originally these first two books were probably the whole book of Psalms for Israel during the reign of David and the time of the monarchy. This is emphasized by 72:20, which marks the end of a collection of David’s psalms.

Book 3 takes a sudden turn and reflects a different period in Israel’s history. There is no longer a king on the throne; in fact, Jerusalem has been destroyed, and the temple has been burned.

Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary! (74:3)

Since this psalm seems to describe the destruction of the temple, this book was probably compiled after Israel was taken in exile to Babylon. Many of the psalms in Book 3 are from an earlier time—psalms of David, Ethan, Asaph23—but they were arranged into this book to help Israel trust in God through the pain of the exile.24 Book 3 asks some of the toughest questions in all the Psalms. How could God allow this? How long will this last? Is there any hope?

These questions come to a head in the last psalm of this book, Psalm 89. In a real sense this is the great hinge of the whole book of Psalms, the main crisis point. The first two-thirds of Psalm 89 celebrate God’s covenant with David, his anointed king.

You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have sworn to David my servant:

‘I will establish your offspring forever,

and build your throne for all generations.’” (89:3, 4)

And again,

My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,

and my covenant will stand firm for him.

I will establish his offspring forever

and his throne as the days of the heavens. (89:28, 29)

Then the psalmist dares to tell God he has gone back on his word!

But now you have cast off and rejected;

you are full of wrath against your anointed.

You have renounced the covenant with your servant;

you have defiled his crown in the dust. (89:38, 39)

How could this be? How could God promise David an eternal throne and let the kingdom be destroyed like this? How long will God let this go on? To summarize Book 3, the theme could be, “How could God abandon his king and his people?”

Book 4 was also compiled during the time of the exile. We conclude that this is the case because the book ends with a prayer for God to return the people from exile.

Save us, O LORD our God,

and gather us from among the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise. (106:47)

Evidently the people had not been brought home when this book was gathered together. Book 4 answers the questions of Psalm 89 by reaffirming that God is still King and Judge over all the earth. The people could see their captivity with new eyes. God is at work among the nations, and he is a refuge for his people wherever they may be scattered. A good theme might be, “God is still King over all the world.”

Book 5 was compiled after the exile when God brought Israel back home. We say this because of the way it begins with Psalm 107:2, 3.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

whom he has redeemed from trouble

and gathered in from the lands,

from the east and from the west,

from the north and from the south.

What should Israel do now that they are back in the land? For one thing, they should love God’s Word and keep his commandments. Since God had sent them into exile for disobedience, the logical thing now is to keep God’s Word and not repeat their fathers’ mistakes.25 Psalm 119 is the center of gravity for this book with its celebration of God’s Word. The Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120–134) also encouraged faithful pilgrims to keep the Passover.

The people should also look for another King, a King greater than David. They should have learned from the exile that there is more to God’s plan than an earthly kingdom. In Psalm 110 David talks about a King who will rule from the throne of God in Heaven.

The LORD says to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand,

until I make your enemies your footstool.” (110:1)

So God’s promise to David was not dead. Instead it was far more glorious and wonderful than they could have imagined. The Son of David would not be merely a human king—he would be great enough to sit on the throne of God in Heaven. How this could be would remain a mystery until the Incarnation when Jesus was born as the legitimate Son of David and the Son of God. From the perspective of the New Testament, we know that Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of God in power and glory where he will reign forever and ever.

Is he your King? If he is, you can say with the last verse of the Psalms, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” (150:6).

1

Blessed Is the Man

PSALM 1

WHAT WILL MAKE YOU TRULY HAPPY? You have probably thought about this even if you haven’t put it into words. Everyone wants to have a good life. What will make you truly blessed? Actually the Bible encourages us to look for true, lasting happiness.

The first words of the Psalms pull us in with the possibility of having this kind of life—a life that is blessed by God: “Blessed is the man . . .” (v. 1). This blessing means being supremely happy or fulfilled, a deep sense of well-being. His Word carries much joy, and some versions translate these words, “How happy is the man . . .” This is not superficial happiness that comes and goes but a deep sense of joy from God’s grace in my life.1

Isn’t that what we all want? Psalm 1 offers us true, lasting happiness by presenting a series of contrasts between the righteous and the wicked. It describes two kinds of people living two kinds of lives with two different outcomes. When we see the blessings of the godly next to the emptiness of the wicked, this stark contrast is supposed to make us choose life. The blessings God pours out are so beautiful and compelling that any sane man or woman would want them.

Psalm 1 is the introduction to the Psalms. The blessings God promises those who love his Word are supposed to whet our appetites to take in and to ponder every word of the Psalms.

We will walk through this psalm by asking three questions. Who is this blessed man? How is he blessed? And why is he blessed?

Who Is Blessed?

First, who is this blessed man? Psalm 1:1, 2 describe an ideal man, the kind of person God is looking for.

The Blessed Man Does Not Sin

This ideal man is known first by what he does not do.

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers. (1:1)

There is a downward spiral in these three negative descriptions. A man or woman settles into sin by stages—he walks, then he stops and stands, and finally he sits down. First he is influenced by the sinners, then he identifies with them, and finally he spreads sin to others through his laughter and sarcasm.

Sin will take you from bad to worse. First, you will be influenced; you start by listening to what the wicked say. You laugh at sin on talk shows and movies. You look up to an ungodly woman at work. You admire a celebrity who is far from God. You spend more and more time with a questionable friend. You listen to music that makes sin sound appealing. As you listen to sinners, you want to be like them. You meditate on sin, although you might not call it that.2 You begin walking “in the counsel of the wicked” (v. 1).

Next, you identify with sinners. You stop and take your stand with them. The word “way” refers to a lifestyle, a path you follow through life. Their sinful lifestyle becomes your lifestyle; their attitude is your attitude; their habits become your habits.

Then there is one step further as you sit “in the seat of scoffers” (v. 1). Scoffers are funny—they’ll make you laugh as you turn away from God. Mockers are missionaries of wickedness. They tell jokes as they call good evil and evil good. They want to make you feel stupid for trying to follow God. If you listen to them long enough, you will walk in their counsel, you will take your stand with them, and you will become like them.

This first verse presents us with a problem that we cannot ignore. If we are honest, you and I will admit that we do listen to the counsel of the wicked all too often. We have stood with sinners. We may have laughed and made fun of someone who is obeying God. To say it another way, you and I are sinners (1 John 1:8).

This is a problem because the grammar of verse 1 requires complete obedience. The blessed man has never sinned.3 Willem VanGemeren, a noted Old Testament scholar, points this out.

The perfect mood of the verbs in each case emphasizes that the godly are never involved with anything tainted with evil.4

So the blessings of Psalm 1 are for those who are and always have been separate from sin. Who can inherit this blessing? Who can hope to have the truly happy life this psalm lays out for us? Is the psalmist tempting us with something we can never have?

In fact, only one man in history has lived out the reality of Psalm 1. Augustine, the great North African theologian of the fourth century, says boldly about this verse, “This is to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ.”5 From Adam onward, no other man has lived up to Psalm 1:1.

A man named Joseph Flacks was visiting Palestine in the early twentieth century. He had an opportunity to address a gathering of Jews and Arabs and decided to speak on the first psalm. He read it in Hebrew and discussed the verb tenses. Then he asked the question, “Who is this blessed man of whom the psalmist speaks? This man never walked in the counsel of the wicked or stood in the way of sinners or sat in the seat of mockers. He was an absolutely sinless man.”

Nobody spoke. So Flacks said, “Was he our great father Abraham?” One old man said, “No, it cannot be Abraham. He denied his wife and told a lie about her.”

“Well, how about the lawgiver Moses?” “No,” someone said. “It cannot be Moses. He killed a man, and he lost his temper by the waters of Meribah.”

Flacks suggested David. It was not David; he committed both murder and adultery.

There was a long silence. Then an elderly Jew arose and said, “My brothers, I have a little book here; it is called the New Testament. I have been reading it, and if I could believe this book, if I could be sure that it is true, I would say that the man of the first Psalm was Jesus of Nazareth.”6

Amazingly, the very first verse of the Psalms points to Christ. Ancient Jews who read this psalm would recognize that David and the kings after him did not live up to the ideals of this opening psalm. Like this elderly Jewish man, Psalm 1:1 would prompt them to look for the kind of messiah who did please the Lord and who did not sin against him.7 Now that Jesus has come, we can see that he is the only one whose sinless life and delight in God’s Word has earned him God’s blessing. He is the one truly and supremely happy man (cf. 45:7). Jesus is the blessed man of Psalm 1!

So where does this leave us? The good news, the gospel, is that all the blessings of Psalm 1 become ours through his obedience. We have been joined together with Jesus by trusting in his death and resurrection. If you are in Christ, your life is wrapped up in him, and his life is wrapped up in yours. On the cross he took our sin and gave us his righteousness. The Scriptures say,

For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God gives us Jesus’ righteousness—his obedience is counted as ours. And since Jesus’ righteous obedience is imputed to us, then all the blessings of Psalm 1 are ours as well. Not only so, but if the Spirit of Christ is living in us, Christ himself will help us turn away from sin, delight in his Word, and meditate on his Word. To live out Psalm 1, we need to become like Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Blessed Man Loves God’s Word

The description of the blessed man continues in verse 2. God blesses the one who constantly and intentionally focuses on his Word.

[B]ut his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night. (1:2)

This was supremely true of Christ, of course. As a child, he amazed the teachers in the temple with the depth of his knowledge and understanding. When he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus answered each time with the Scriptures. Jesus began and ended his earthly ministry teaching the Scriptures (Luke 4:14–21; 24:44–47).

This is also true of everyone who belongs to Christ. Those who inherit the blessings of Psalm 1 are known by their heart and their head. First, their hearts delight “in the law of the LORD” (v. 2). One important sign that someone has genuinely come to faith is that he or she has a new hunger for God’s Word. He or she loves to read it.

The word “law” is the Hebrew word torah, which means instruction. This often means the Law of Moses, but in this context it refers to the Scriptures as a whole and especially the Psalms. The blessed man finds unspeakable joy in God’s Word because he loves God and he wants to learn how to please God. You will only delight in God’s Law if you already delight in God himself.

Some people do not delight “in the law of the LORD” (v. 2) because they are not humble enough to be taught. “The law of the LORD” (v. 2) is his instruction, and they don’t want anyone to tell them what to do. If you are full of yourself, the captain of your soul, it will be impossible for you to love God’s Word.

Some people do not delight “in the law of the LORD” (v. 2) because they assume they already know God. When I was in high school, our football coach gave us a chalk talk before games on Saturday morning. He would always end by giving us a moment of silence to pray to God “however we understood him to be.” No judgments—pray to the God you choose for yourself.

If you imagine that you can know God just by looking inside yourself, you are like a man looking down a well. The reflection you see is your own face. You assume that God is like you (Psalm 50:21). But God’s ways are high above our ways; he dwells in unapproachable light. We can only know him if he reveals himself to us (Isaiah 55:8, 9; 1 Timothy 6:16). This is why we need the Bible. Some people don’t love God’s Word because they think they already know him.

God’s blessing is for those whose hearts love his Word. If your heart is engaged, your head will be engaged too: “and on his law he meditates day and night” (v. 2). The word “meditate” means to murmur or to mutter. This has the sense of talking to yourself, speaking under your breath as you ponder God’s Word. This is also an imperfect verb, which suggests that this is an ongoing action; we ponder God’s Word “day and night” (v. 2) like a program running constantly in the background on a computer. The Word of God releases its flavor as we chew on it over time.

How can we meditate on God’s Word? The foundation is to spend time reading God’s Word. You cannot be deeply influenced by something you don’t know. As we read, we can reflect on God’s Word in a number of ways. When I pray at the end of my devotions, I try to pray two or three things that stood out to me. This helps reinforce some things I can think about all day. We can write down a verse or two on a Post-it and keep it in our pocket. Music is a powerful way to meditate on God’s Word for both children and adults. My family has a set of CDs called Good Seed that are Scripture put to music, and we know all the words. Some people set an alarm on their watch to remind them to think about God’s Word throughout the day.

And, of course, there is no substitute for memorizing God’s Word. When I wake up at night worrying, afraid, or feeling sorry for myself, God sends me light in the darkness through the Word that I have committed to memory.

The goal of meditating on God’s Word is to look at it long enough so that we see its beauty and our hearts catch fire. Pondering the Psalms will wake up our hearts to find joy in Christ. Our goal is not to master the Psalms but to be mastered by them.

Who is this blessed man of Psalm 1? The true blessed man is our Lord Jesus Christ. Every man or woman who belongs to Christ also receives these blessings through him. And if we belong to him, we make it our goal to live out the pattern God sets for us in this psalm. Blessed is the man who turns away from sin to find joy in God’s Word.

How Is the Godly Man Blessed?

This leads us to our second main question. What does this blessing look like? How was Jesus blessed through his obedience, and how are we blessed in him? What does God’s favor look like?

The psalmist paints a picture of the green and growing blessings of the righteous. These blessings are even more compelling because they stand in contrast with the empty wasteland of the ungodly.

The Blessing of Life

The blessings of the righteous remind us of the beauty of the garden of Eden.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers. (1:3)

The image of a flourishing tree is a rich image to describe a believer’s life. There are five specific blessings in this picture.

First, this tree doesn’t merely grow; it is “planted” (v. 3). Trees grow randomly in a forest; it takes a landscaper or gardener for a tree to be planted. A landscaper plans where to plant her trees for height, for color, for shade, and for a host of other reasons. In the same way, God chooses where to place us for our good to bring order and beauty in this world. There is a purpose and plan to the life of a believer. Nothing in your life is haphazard. The Scriptures say,

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16 NIV)

This sense of God’s planning grows in the second blessing. This happy man or woman is planted “by streams of water” (1:3). The word “streams” is literally “canals.” This tree is intentionally planted by not one but several irrigational canals that flow with life-giving water.8

The third blessing of this tree is that it “yields its fruit in its season” (v. 3). As you delight and meditate on God’s Word, you will produce fruit in every season of life. The psalmist doesn’t name these fruits because they are innumerable. The godly man or woman produces thanksgiving in seasons of plenty, faith in seasons of doubt, patience in suffering, peace in turmoil, mercy when wronged, gentleness when falsely accused, strength in temptation, humility in leadership, and prayer in all seasons.

The fourth blessing of this tree is, “its leaf does not wither” (v. 3). In the middle of summer, the grass might be brown as the sun beats down and turns the land into a skillet. But this man has roots that go below the surface to drink from the waters his gardener supplies. When an unbelieving world sees a man put out leaves while he is torched by the hot winds of life, there can only be one explanation.

I think of a dear friend, Don McKinzie, whose “leaf did not wither.” As his cancer advanced, Don continued to work security at the door of the church. When I left in the late afternoon or came back in the evening, Don was always upbeat, even after a hard day of chemo. Deep beneath the surface, his roots drank from streams of living water.

The fifth blessing comes at the end of verse 3, “In all that he does, he prospers” (v. 3). Prosperity preachers read this verse with dollar signs in their eyes. But the Hebrew verb translated “prospers” means “to succeed, to accomplish the work you set out to do.”9 Jesus, the truly blessed man, accomplished his work through the cross; he succeeded through suffering and death. Isaiah says this about him:

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied. (Isaiah 53:10, 11)

In God’s economy, the work he gives us often prospers through our own suffering and humiliation. The blessing, though, is that this pain and confusion is not pointless. The work God gives us to do in the place he plants us will prosper as we faithfully turn from sin, delight in God’s Word, and meditate on the Word.

The Wasteland of the Wicked

The psalmist contrasts the blessings of a godly man with the wasteland of the wicked. The life of the ungodly is futile.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away. (1:4)

The picture here is of the threshing floor during harvesttime. First the heads of wheat were crushed to separate the kernel from the husk. Then it was tossed in the air so that the wind would carry away the lighter husks, the chaff, while the heavy kernels fell back down to the ground. To picture chaff today, think of a combine harvesting a Kansas wheat field. Dust and bits of straw blow in a cloud across the open prairie behind it.

Nothing could be farther from the picture of the blessed man. Instead of a solid tree, the wicked is a hollow shell. He doesn’t produce fruit; his life is a husk. He has no roots to hold him steady and reach the water. He is blown by the wind. The wicked are rootless, weightless, useless, worthless. In fact, chaff is in the way; you have to remove it to find the useful grain.

An empty husk is not always obvious on the surface. Many who are chaff mask it well, even some who go to church. But eventually the winnowing and the winds will reveal the truth. Sometimes a crisis hits them or one they love, and they do not survive spiritually; the wind blows them away. And ultimately a final judgment is coming.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (1:5)

The end of the wicked may not be visible in this life. But since they are chaff, they will not survive the day of judgment. They will collapse; they “will not stand” (v. 5). They will also be driven away because they don’t belong with God’s people.

So there are two drastically different pictures before us. On the one hand, the blessings God promises those who love him are like the garden of Eden. On the other hand, the emptiness and judgment that come to the wicked are terrifying. Which life is yours? Which life do you want to be yours?

Why Is the Godly Man or Woman Blessed?

This brings us to the final question. Why is the godly man or woman blessed?

[F]or the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish. (1:6)

The reason the godly flourish is because God is watching over them. When all is said and done, the real question in life is not whether I know God but whether he knows me. During the 1996 Presidential elections Bob Dole, the Republican candidate, came to march in our town’s Fourth of July Parade. Thousands of people lined the parade route, yelling and cheering as he went by. It was exciting to have a national candidate in our little town outside Chicago. All of us knew who Bob Dole was, but if I wanted to see him, the Secret Service would not have let me near him unless he knew me. When it comes to God’s blessing today and in eternity, the question is not, “Do I know God?” but “Does God know me?” Does he know your way?

No one watches over the wicked to protect and bless them. To describe the totality of their destruction, it’s not just the wicked themselves who perish, but “the way of the wicked will perish” (v. 6). The godless path they blazed through life will be destroyed when God purges sin from his world. Every trace of the wicked, even their footsteps, will be wiped away.

When our family still lived in the Twin Cities, the bridge over I35W collapsed during the afternoon rush hour on August 1, 2007. The eight-lane bridge was the fifth busiest bridge in Minnesota, carrying over 140,000 commuters daily. When the bridge fell, one hundred vehicles and eighteen construction workers plunged down 112 feet to the Mississippi River below. One minute the bridge was there, the next it was gone. When the way of the wicked disappears, the wicked will disappear with it. Even their place is gone. There will be nowhere for them.

Closing Thoughts

Jesus Christ is the true righteous man of Psalm 1. God blessed him and prospered him as our sinless Savior. If you belong to him, the blessings of Psalm 1 are yours through him. If you belong to him, Psalm 1 will be the pattern of your life.

This is the way to true happiness. This is the path of God’s blessing. I pray it is your path.

2

Let Earth Receive Her King

PSALM 2

KIM UN GUK was the second North Korean weightlifter to win a gold medal at the London Olympics. After his world record lift, he told reporters, “I won first place because the shining supreme commander Kim Jong Eun gave me power and courage.”1 We laugh because this sounds funny to us. But this is a reminder that the nation of North Korea remains officially atheistic and set against Christ.

As Christians, what should we think when we see this kind of opposition to God? North Korea is one of thousands of obvious examples of a world in rebellion against God.

Christians in Egypt are nervous about the future as the Muslim Brotherhood strengthens its grip on power in that nation. Here at home the Parents Research Council released a recent report that full nudity on prime-time television rose 407 percent from 2011 to 2012.2 Violence is so common it hardly raises an eyebrow. After a recent shooting at the Empire State Building, I overheard one man ask, “Was anyone killed in this one?” There was hardly a flicker of emotion in his voice.

Usually, though, our rebellion is less dramatic. Many people we know simply ignore God and do life their own way. They go to school, raise their kids, and pay their taxes without the slightest thought of following Jesus Christ. This is suburban rebellion.

It’s not immediately obvious that the cause of Christ is winning in our world or in our neighborhoods. We live in a world that openly opposes God in big and small ways. What should we think about this? Will God do anything about it?

The message of Psalm 2 is that God has powerfully and decisively set his Son on the throne to end this world’s rebellion. This uprising began when Adam and Eve, our parents, first sinned in the garden of Eden. God will not let this go on forever. He has raised up a King with authority over every person and every nation.

Psalm 2 continues the contrast between the righteous and the wicked that began in Psalm 1. These first two chapters stand as an introduction to the book. Psalm 1 begins with, “Blessed is the man” and Psalm 2 ends with another blessing, “Blessed are all.” These bookends suggest that the first two Psalms are meant to be read together as an introduction to the Psalms.

In Psalm 2, “the way of sinners” (Psalm 1:1) becomes more specific and more serious. It is a violent insurrection against the God of Heaven and the King he set in authority to rule the world. On the other hand, the righteous man of Psalm 1 becomes more specific and clear too. He is the Son of God who inherits a throne—God gives him complete authority over all nations. The world hates God’s anointed King, but the righteous embrace him and are blessed. So the Psalms open with two ways to live: we can refuse Christ or take refuge in him.

The purpose of this psalm is to convince us that it is foolish and futile to fight against Christ. For Christians, this is a message of hope and encouragement. The world is lined up against God, and yet Jesus will conquer all nations and peoples.

If you don’t know Jesus, God is appealing to you through this Psalm. Be wise. Be reasonable. You can’t fight God. You need to bend your knee to Jesus and honor him with joy today. True blessing doesn’t come from being free to live your own life; true happiness comes from following Jesus Christ.

Harry Ironside speaks of four voices in this psalm in its four sections: the voice of the world, the voice of the Father, the voice of the Son, and the voice of the Holy Spirit.3 Let’s listen to each of these voices in turn.

The World Shouts

We begin with the world’s rebellion. The psalmist is amazed that anyone would be foolish enough to fight God.

Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.” (2:1–3)

If we could see the psalmist as he writes this, he would be shaking his head in disbelief. Don’t they know they can’t win? Why are they raging? Why are they scheming? The word translated “plot” (v. 1). is the same word translated “meditates” in Psalm 1:2. It means to murmur or to talk under your breath. The righteous murmur about God’s Word; the wicked murmur about rebellion.

Worldwide Rebellion

This uprising is not limited to a specific country or continent. All the nations and peoples of the world are in this together. This uprising is also not limited to any social class. Both the people and their leaders—the upper class and the lower class—have set themselves against God.

This rebellion is worldwide because it is rooted in the sin nature we all inherited from Adam. If you trek five days into the jungle, the people you meet are set against God. If you ride the crowded subways of New York City, the people pushing by you are set against God.

Rebellion against God and His Christ

Who are they fighting against? The word “Anointed” (v. 2) is the name messiah in Hebrew and christ in Greek. In ancient Israel, kings, prophets, and other leaders were anointed with oil to show that they were set apart for God’s work. Because of this, some Old Testament scholars think Psalm 2 was written for the coronation of David or another king after him in Jerusalem.