The Psalms (Volume 4, Psalms 101–150) E-Book

Christopher Ash

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1376

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Commentary from Christopher Ash Sets Out a Deeply Christian Study of Psalms 101–150 While reading Psalms, it is common for commentaries to focus on Old Testament meaning, without connecting it deeply to Christ's fulfillment in the New Testament. By studying Scripture this way, believers miss out on the fullness of God's word. The key to experiencing authentically Christian worship is learning a Christ-focused approach to praying and singing the Psalms. In this thorough commentary, Christopher Ash provides a careful treatment of Psalms 101–150, examining each psalm's significance to David and the other psalmists, to Jesus during his earthly ministry, and to the church of Christ in every age. Ash includes introductory quotations, a deep analysis of the text's structure and vocabulary, and a closing reflection and response, along with selected quotations from older readings of the Psalms. Perfect for pastors, Bible teachers, and students, this commentary helps readers sing and pray the Psalms with Christ in view. - Exhaustive: Christopher Ash's exegesis explores how the Psalms are quoted and echoed throughout the New Testament - Applicable and Heartfelt: Explains how a Christ-centered approach to reading the Psalms influences doctrines of prayer, prophecy, the Trinity, ecclesiology, and more - Ideal for Pastors and Serious Students of Scripture: Written for Bible teachers, Sunday school and youth leaders, and small-group leaders

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“These wonderful volumes on the Psalms place the whole church of Christ in their author’s debt. To have carried to completion the vision of such a project is a breathtaking accomplishment. And to have done it with the author’s characteristically loving and careful approach to the text of Scripture, coupled with richness of exposition, humility of spirit, and wise personal and pastoral application, stimulates our admiration and gratitude. In an era when the evangelical church in the West has, by and large, turned its back on the wisdom of two millennia of Christian praise dominated by the Psalms, these four magnificent volumes provide both the equipment and the inspiration needed to discover what our Lord and Savior himself experienced. They deserve to become—indeed, are surely destined to be—the go-to resource for multitudes of preachers, teachers, and students for decades to come. We are richer because of their publication.”

Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; Teaching Fellow, Ligonier Ministries

“Since the Enlightenment, it has become fashionable to hypercontextualize the Psalms, thereby repudiating eighteen centuries of Christ-centered preaching, teaching, and scholarship. In this magisterial commentary, Christopher Ash returns to the old paths by displaying Christ and his glory in all 150 psalms. The Reformers and the Puritans would have loved this warm, devotional, and accessible work, for herein Ash provides the kind of experiential, practical, and Christ-saturated exegesis that they so dearly treasured. With careful historical-theological reflection and a tender pastoral heart, Ash guides the people of God as they seek to better read, sing, meditate on, study, and preach the Psalms. This commentary will no doubt become a staple in the pastor’s library for many years to come.”

Joel R. Beeke, Chancellor and Professor of Homiletics and Systematic Theology, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

“Modern readers often gravitate toward the Psalms because in them they see a mirror for themselves and their own emotions. This is not wrong, but as Christopher Ash reminds us, it is insufficient. The writers of the New Testament and many throughout church history read the Psalms because in them they found Christ. Ash provides a comprehensive help to the church to read the Psalms afresh from that Christ-centered perspective, in a way that not only exercises our minds but feeds our souls.”

Iain M. Duguid, Professor of Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary

“How easy it is to quickly read ourselves into the center of the Psalms, and yet how important it is not to do this. Christopher Ash can be counted on to see a psalm in its real setting, grasp its proper culmination in Christ, and tell its rich implications to us. Few writers think with as much faithfulness or illumination as Ash does, and these volumes will be the new treasure chest in learning and psalmody.”

Simon Manchester, Former Rector, St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, North Sydney, Australia

“In this four-volume work, Christopher Ash casts a vision of the Psalter that is theologically centered on Christ, typologically related to Christ, and ultimately fulfilled in Christ—a book of the Old Testament that reveals, in type and shadow, through image of king and priest, prophet and teacher, supplicant and sufferer, the divinity and humanity of Christ, who in his humanity perfectly expressed the full range of human emotions and affections in the vicissitudes of his earthly humiliation as he awaited his heavenly exaltation. Therefore, he is the true and better singer of the Psalter, the one through whom and in union with whom the Christian and the church today can sing ‘the Psalms of Jesus’ with eyes unveiled. Encyclopedic in scope, enlightening in content, enthusing in purpose—this magnum opus ought to find a place in every pastor’s library, in every student’s book budget, and on every Christian’s bedside table. These volumes will hopefully change the way we read—and sing!—the Psalms for years to come.”

Jonathan Gibson, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary

“This is a landmark commentary that belongs in the library of every Bible teacher and scholar. Grounded in wide-ranging research, warmed by sincere devotion, and crafted with unusual elegance, this work offers the reader an exegetical and theological feast for both heart and mind. Any believer who has studied and taught the Psalms knows the challenge of handling them in faithfulness as truly Christian Scripture. In these pages Ash has pursued the compelling thesis that the Psalms are emphatically Christ centered from beginning to end, having Christ as their true subject and object. For those who wish to understand how and why this is so, this study is both a treasure and a delight.”

Jonathan Griffiths, Lead Pastor, The Metropolitan Bible Church, Ottawa, Canada

“How pleasing it is to find a modern, scholarly commentary that unashamedly leads us to Jesus the Messiah! The case for this Christ-centered work is carefully argued and applied to each psalm without ignoring original contexts or their relevance to believers. More controversially, Christopher Ash provides the most compelling defense to date for accepting every penitential and imprecatory line in the Psalter as appropriate on the lips of the sinless Savior, the Christian’s covenant head. Helpful quotations from early Christian writers, the Reformers, and contemporary authors add to the commentary’s appeal. I warmly recommend it.”

Philip H. Eveson, Former Principal and Old Testament Tutor, London Seminary; author, Psalms: From Suffering to Glory

“To simply call this resource a commentary seems too mundane. What Christopher Ash presents us with here is an extensive and detailed exploration of the verdant theological landscape of the Psalter, with Jesus the Messiah as the lodestar. These remarkable volumes are weighty but not burdensome, erudite but not arid. Ash’s pastoral insights into the Psalms reflect a maturity and wisdom that can be cultivated only over a lifetime spent in the full counsel of Scripture and ministry in the church. What a tremendous achievement this is, what a blessing it is sure to be to the church, and what a testament to the beauty and transforming power of the true and final King, Jesus Christ.”

William A. Ross, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte

“With historical breadth, exegetical finesse, rhetorical care, and a deeply doxological thrust, Christopher Ash’s commentary brings the Psalms closer to the center of Christian devotion—and Jesus Christ to the very center of the Psalter. These wonderful volumes have helped me grasp, more deeply than ever before, just why Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the Psalms an ‘incomparable treasure.’ More than that, they have revealed the incomparable treasure himself who sings in every psalm yet whose voice we so often fail to hear.”

Scott Hubbard, Editor, Desiring God; Pastor, All Peoples Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota

“This new commentary—in which ‘the person of Christ is central to the meaning and force of every psalm’—is theologically rich, spiritually refreshing, and carefully assembled to understand Old and New Testament themes in the light of Christ. Here is a commentary that will be rewarding in the study as the minister prepares to teach the Psalms or, indeed, the many New Testament passages that reference them. This is also great material for personal devotions. Thank you, Christopher Ash, for such a rich resource to help us know Christ.”

Nat Schluter, Principal, Johannesburg Bible College

“A masterful balance of being thoughtfully Christ centered and warmly devotional at the same time. A blessing for my personal quiet time and my sermon preparation.”

Denesh Divyanathan, Senior Pastor, The Crossing Church, Singapore; Chairman, Evangelical Theological College of Asia; President, Project Timothy Singapore

The Psalms

A Christ-Centered Commentary

Other Crossway Books by Christopher Ash

The Heart of Anger: How the Bible Transforms Anger in Our Understanding and Experience, coauthored with Steve Midgley (2021)

Job: The Wisdom of the Cross (2014)

Married for God: Making Your Marriage the Best It Can Be (2016)

Trusting God in the Darkness: A Guide to Understanding the Book of Job (2021)

The Psalms

A Christ-Centered Commentary

Volume 4

Psalms 101–150

Christopher Ash

The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary, Volume 4, Psalms 101–150

© 2024 by Christopher Brian Garton Ash

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.

Portions of this work are adapted from Christopher Ash, Bible Delight: Heartbeat of the Word of God; Psalm 119 for the Bible Teacher and Bible Hearer (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2008); Ash, Psalms for You: How to Pray, How to Feel, and How to Sing (Epsom, UK: Good Book, 2020); and Ash, Teaching Psalms: From Text to Message, 2 vols. (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2017–2018). Used by permission of the publishers.

Cover design: Jordan Singer

First printing 2024

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, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 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 into any other language.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked REB are taken from the Revised English Bible, copyright © Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, 1989. All rights reserved.

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

Hardcover ISBN (vol. 4): 978-1-4335-6397-3ePub ISBN (vol. 4): 978-1-4335-6400-0PDF ISBN (vol. 4): 978-1-4335-6398-0Hardcover ISBN (4-vol. set): 978-1-4335-6388-1ePub ISBN (4-vol. set): 978-1-4335-8843-3PDF ISBN (4-vol. set): 978-1-4335-8841-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023938846

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2024-06-21 12:24:04 PM

To Tyndale House, Cambridge,

a fellowship of delight

in the Scriptures (Ps. 1:2).

Jesus, my shepherd, brother, friend,my prophet, priest, and king,my Lord, my life, my way, my end,accept the praise I bring.

John Newton

“How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Commentary on Psalms 101–150

Book 4 (continued)

Psalm 101

Psalm 102

Psalm 103

Psalm 104

Psalm 105

Psalm 106

Book 5

Psalm 107

Psalm 108

Psalm 109

Psalm 110

Psalm 111

Psalm 112

Psalm 113

Psalm 114

Psalm 115

Psalm 116

Psalm 117

Psalm 118

Psalm 119

Psalm 120

Psalm 121

Psalm 122

Psalm 123

Psalm 124

Psalm 125

Psalm 126

Psalm 127

Psalm 128

Psalm 129

Psalm 130

Psalm 131

Psalm 132

Psalm 133

Psalm 134

Psalm 135

Psalm 136

Psalm 137

Psalm 138

Psalm 139

Psalm 140

Psalm 141

Psalm 142

Psalm 143

Psalm 144

Psalm 145

Psalm 146

Psalm 147

Psalm 148

Psalm 149

Psalm 150

Epigraph Sources

Bibliography

Subject Index

Name Index

Scripture Index

Preface

The Nature and Purpose of This Commentary

I am persuaded that the Psalms belong to Jesus Christ. I believe that the Psalms themselves point to a fulfillment only possible in the divine-human person of Christ. Through its quotations and echoes of the Psalms, the New Testament bears witness to a textured understanding in which Christ is central. For the larger part of church history, this has broadly been the way Christians have read the Psalms. This commentary is therefore a Christ-centered commentary, in which I seek to see Christ front and center when reading the Psalms. I have attempted to explain and argue my case in volume 1, Introduction: Christ and the Psalms.

Since the so-called “Enlightenment” in the eighteenth century, Christ has been eclipsed in much Psalms scholarship and preaching. With a few notable exceptions, recent commentaries tend either to omit Christ from many or all of the Psalms or mention him as little more than an afterthought. But I have become persuaded that Jesus Christ is the subject and object of the Psalms, that his majestic divine-human person is woven into the warp and woof of the Psalter, and that he is the preeminent singer of psalms, the focus of the Psalter, and the one without whom the Psalms cannot be understood aright. I therefore want to place Christ in the foreground of our reading of every psalm and to do so in ways that are shaped by the New Testament. I want to set before us what the Psalms might look and feel like if in truth they do belong to Christ.

There is much you will not find in this commentary. My background is that of a preacher and pastor rather than a trained biblical scholar. I have sought to interact with a representative sample of writers across the centuries (surveyed in volume 1, Introduction: Christ and the Psalms) but have not, for the most part, attempted to interact with the voluminous and ever-growing secondary literature. I hope I am sufficiently aware of the more significant debates, but for a full study of these things, readers should consult one or more of the recent technical commentaries. I have worked from the Hebrew text but have no particular expertise in the language, especially as regards Hebrew poetry, translation of tense forms, and poetic parallelism. Much scholarly debate surrounds theories of the dating, possible contexts of origins, and putative redaction histories of various psalms. Too often it seems to me that scholars construct theories on the basis of inadequate evidence; furthermore, I am not persuaded that these debates are always useful to Christian disciples seeking to weave the Psalms into their lives of prayer and praise.

This commentary is not, therefore, a substitute for technical, scholarly commentaries. What you will find here, I hope, is the Psalms read with the breadth of a whole-Bible perspective allied with the depth of a clear focus on Christ, the center of history and the fulcrum of the Bible story. I thus hope to do four things:

1. To help you understand the lyrics of these songs, what the words mean and what the poetry signifies

2. To assist us in feeling the “tune,” that is, the affectional and emotional dimensions of these songs

3. To point to the volitional commitment that is asked of disciples when we join in the Psalms—for to say the Psalms means moving from the audience, where we listen without commitment, to the choir, where commitment is expected

4. To motivate you to take that step and actively to make the Psalms a part of your lives of prayer and praise

I hope this commentary will prove useful to all kinds of Christian people—and especially to those who preach, teach, or lead studies on the Psalms.

How Each Psalm Is Treated

After one or more chapter epigraphs of quotations from other writers, each psalm is considered in three sections.

The orientation section involves consideration of how we ought to view the psalm in the light of Jesus Christ. This includes reference to New Testament quotations and echoes and to the context of the psalm in history (if known) and in its canonical context, especially with reference to nearby psalms. I hope that setting this section first helps the reader engage in a manner that places Christ at the center, rather than on the periphery.

The text section begins with consideration of the structure. Since there is an extraordinarily wide variation in perceived structures, I have sought to be cautious and tentative except where the structure seems very clear. The text section continues with verse-by-verse commentary, taking into account the orientation section and seeking to make clear the meaning of the words and lines as well as the flow of the poetry.

The reflection and response section points to what a Christian response might look like when appropriating this psalm.

Three Questions in Psalms Interpretation

Three questions are often asked when reading the Psalms that merit even concise mention at the outset of this commentary. For a fuller discussion, please see volume 1, Introduction: Christ and the Psalms. These questions, with my very brief conclusions, are listed below.

1. Who are “the righteous”? A careful analysis of the Psalms gives us a portrait of those who delight in the covenant God and find assurance of final vindication in him. This assurance is rooted in the righteousness of their covenant head. Because neither David nor his successors lived with perfect righteousness, they clearly foreshadow another covenant head who will. “The righteous” in the Psalms, then, are righteous by faith in the covenant God.

2. Can Jesus Christ be considered to be praying the Psalms when the psalmists confess their sins and plead for forgiveness? My conclusion is that he does so as the covenant head of a sinful people, just as he submitted to John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance. The shadow of the cross fell on him, who had no sin, as he prayed these psalms and our sin was imputed to him.

3. How are we to understand the prayers for God to punish the wicked in the Psalms? A study of the New Testament supports the conclusion that Jesus Christ prays these prayers from a pure heart, and so we pray them—cautiously and with trembling—in him. Every time we pray, “Your kingdom come,” in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray for this punishment on the finally impenitent, even as we pray for many to repent before it is too late.

The Superscriptions and the Shape of the Psalter

Much scholarly attention has focused in recent years on the canonical order of the Psalms and the ways in which the five books of the Psalms and the superscriptions may help us understand the significance of this order. I am persuaded that the canonical order is as much the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s direction as is the composition of the Psalms themselves. But I have sought to be cautious in making claims about discerning the meaning of this structure in detail. At the start of each book of the Psalter, I have included a very brief introduction to that book.

I accept the reliability of the superscriptions, while recognizing that we do not understand all the terms used in them. I have commented briefly on these terms (and the word Selah) the first time each appears. In particular, I accept that “of David” and similar expressions indicate authorship, and I have sought to argue this position (a minority among scholars) in volume 1, Introduction: Christ and the Psalms.

Texts and Translations

I have followed the normal Jewish and Christian understanding that the Masoretic Text is the most reliable witness to the original form of the texts. Some modern translations give considerable weight to the Greek translations (and sometimes also to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the ancient Versions), but I have erred on the side of caution, except where there are overwhelming reasons for rejecting the Masoretic Text. I have indicated where there is significant uncertainty.

When quoting Hebrew or Greek, I provide both the original forms and the transliteration in the main text. In footnotes I provide only the original Hebrew or Greek.

I have used the English Standard Version (ESV) as my base text (though I have at times taken liberty to break stanzas differently from the ESV). I have found this an admirable translation for the purposes of detailed study. Where there are significant differences, I have sometimes referred to the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), the King James Version (KJV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International Version (NIV), the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), and the Revised English Bible (REB).

Hebrew Tense Forms

Scholars vary in the terminology they use for the two tense forms in Hebrew. One form may be called the perfect, the perfective, the suffix conjugation, or the qatal. The other may be called the imperfect, the imperfective, the prefix conjugation, or the yiqtol. For simplicity I use the traditional terminology perfect and imperfect, even though these do not translate simply into English perfect or imperfect tenses, especially in poetry. In general, it may be true that an imperfect form conveys an action that is continuing (typically but not always future), while a perfect form indicates an action that is completed (typically but not always past). But there are many exceptions (especially when following the vav consecutive).

The Divine Name “the Lord”

The Hebrew name יהוה‎, or YHWH, often written Yahweh and sometimes called the tetragrammaton (after its four consonants), is written “Lord” in quotations from the biblical text (in line with the usual convention for English translations). Outside quotations, I prefer to use the phrases covenant Lord or covenant God, rather than the word Yahweh, partly because we do not know for sure how it was pronounced but mainly because it captures the strong Old Testament context of covenantal lordship.

The Davidic King

When speaking of the Davidic king/King, I have generally capitalized King to encourage the reader to think toward the fulfillment of Davidic kingship in Christ, the final King. I have typically used the lowercase king when referring exclusively to an old covenant king, whether David or one of his successors.

Psalm Numbering

I have numbered the Psalms according to the Masoretic Text and all English translations throughout. Most patristic writers followed the Psalm chapter numbering in, or derived from, the Greek translations. This numbering differs from the Hebrew numbering as shown in table 1. So, for example, when commenting on what our English Bibles call Psalm 107, Augustine of Hippo (354–430) refers to it as Psalm 106. But even when referring to the Septuagint or Vulgate, I have translated into the Masoretic Text numbering.

Table 1 Psalm Numbering in English and Greek Versions

Psalm Number in English Versions

Psalm Number in Greek Versions

Pss. 1–8

Unchanged: Pss. 1–8

Pss. 9–10

Combined into Ps. 9

Pss. 11–113

One less: Pss. 10–112

Pss. 114–115

Combined into Ps. 113

Ps. 116

Split into Pss. 114 and 115

Pss. 117–146

One less: Pss. 116–145

Ps. 147

Split into Pss. 146 and 147

Pss. 148–150

Unchanged: Pss. 148–150

Verse Numbering

I have used English verse numbering throughout, with superscriptions labeled S. Where a psalm has more than a very short superscription, the Masoretic Text usually designates the superscription verse 1, increasing all subsequent verse numbers by one. Otherwise, the superscription forms the start of verse 1. I have noted this feature when commenting on each superscription.

Abbreviations

AB  Anchor Bible

AcBib  Academia Biblica

ACCS  Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Edited by Thomas C. Oden. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998–2010.

ACW  Ancient Christian Writers

AD  anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord,” often called the Common Era, CE

BC  before Christ, sometimes called before the Common Era, BCE

BCOTWP  Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms

BDB  Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs. A Hebrew Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.

BHS  Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Edited by Karl Elliger and Wilhelm Rudolph. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1983.

BOSHNP  Berit Olam Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry

ca.  circa, “approximately”

CBSC  Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

CFTL  Clark’s Foreign Theological Library

chap(s).  chapter(s)

CNTOT  Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Edited by G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007.

EBTC  Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary

e.g.  exempli gratia, “for example”

esp.  especially

etc.  et cetera, “and so forth”

FC  Fathers of the Church

HALOT  The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, and Johann J. Stamm. Translated and edited under the supervision of Mervyn E. J. Richardson. 4 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1994–1999.

IBC  Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching

i.e.  id est, “that is”

JBL  Journal of Biblical Literature

JSOTSup  Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series

KEL  Kregel Exegetical Library

lit.  literally

LEC  Library of Early Christianity

LXX  Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures)

MC  A Mentor Commentary

MT  Masoretic Text

NCB  New Century Bible

NCBC  New Cambridge Bible Commentary

NICNT  New International Commentary on the New Testament

NIVAC  NIV Application Commentary

NPNF2  Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 2nd ser. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. 1890–1900. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987.

NSBT  New Studies in Biblical Theology

NT  New Testament

OT  Old Testament

OTL  Old Testament Library

PTW  Preaching the Word

RCS  Reformation Commentary on Scripture. Edited by Timothy George and Scott M. Manetsch. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011–.

SSN  Studia Semitica Neerlandica

STI  Studies in Theological Interpretation

s.v.  sub verbo, “under the word”

TBST  The Bible Speaks Today

THOTC  Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary

TOTC  Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries

TynBul  Tyndale Bulletin

Vg.  Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin translation of the Bible)

WBC  Word Biblical Commentary

WCS  Welwyn Commentary Series

Commentary on

Psalms 101–150

Book 4 (continued)

Book 3 (Pss. 73–89) is dominated by the Babylonian exile. Not all these psalms were originally written in this context, but in their final form, exile casts a shadow over everything. We may naturally expect that book 4, which comprises Psalms 90–106, begins to answer the questions raised by exile, and we will not be disappointed. Ultimately, however, it speaks to the deeper questions that exile represents, the questions of sin and wrath, forgiveness and hope.1

In addition to the issues mentioned in the introduction to book 4 (see vol. 3, p. 527), Psalms 101–106 relate to exile in at least two ways. Psalms 101 and 103 are the only psalms headed “of David” in book 4. Together with a psalm “of one afflicted” (Ps. 102), they take us back to the messianic hopes and messianic sufferings that were so prominent in books 1 and 2. They prepare us for the significant “of David” collections near the beginning and end of book 5 (Pss. 108–110; 138–145).

Second, Psalms 104–106 give us a grand overview of God’s works, first in creation (which will be free of sin in the end—see 104:35) and then in the history of the people of God (Pss. 105; 106). Psalm 106 ends with a poignant plea for a final return from exile (“Gather us from among the nations,” 106:47), which prepares the way for the thanksgivings of Psalm 107 at the start of book 5 (note 107:2–3: “whom he has redeemed . . .  / and gathered in”).

1  For one understanding of book 4, see O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms: Discovering Their Structure and Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2015), 147–82.

Now as the kingdom of David was only a faint image of the kingdom of Christ, we ought to set Christ before our view; who, although he may bear with many hypocrites, yet as he will be the judge of the world, will at length call them all to an account, and separate the sheep from the goats.

John Calvin

Commentary on the Psalms

David . . . is but a type and shadow of Christ, in whom alone the perfect performance of the duties here premised are to be found.

David Dickson

A Commentary on the Psalms

The only anointed Son of David who could sing this psalm with perfect integrity at all times is Jesus Christ.

Tremper Longman III

Psalms

Psalm 101

Orientation

In the kingdom of Christ, all the King’s ministers will share the character of the King (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 6:2). In Psalm 101 David resolves that he himself and his kingdom at every level will be marked by the covenant love and flawless justice of God. David failed, but it was good that he longed to govern like this. Derek Kidner (1913–2008) writes, “The psalm is doubly moving: both for the ideals it discloses and for the shadow of failure which history throws across it. Happily the last word is not with David nor with his faithful historians, but with his Son. There, there is no shadow.”1

All power is exercised through ministers. Every king has a court, each president an administration, every warlord his henchmen, each influencer her devotees. The character of the ministers reflects the attributes of the leader. In Psalm 101 the King’s blameless character is seen in the behavior of his ministers. The psalm is a standing challenge and encouragement to everyone who exercises authority, especially in the church but also in all the structures of society, from the family right up to international affairs.

This may well have been David’s resolve before he had come into the kingdom or before he brought the ark to Jerusalem (see below on 101:2 for the possible echo of 2 Sam. 6:9).2 But although it reads like a resolution made before it was spoiled by failure, it might also be a fresh resolution made by faith later in his reign. There is no way to be sure.

Psalm 100 is the climax of a tremendous series celebrating the reign of the covenant Lord (Pss. 92–100). Psalm 101 reminds us that (as we have known since Ps. 2) the covenant Lord exercises his government through his human Son, the Messiah (cf. Acts 17:31 with Pss. 96:13; 98:9). Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick (1849–1940) suggests that it is placed here “in order to suggest how that kingdom might be made a reality for Jerusalem under the sway of a true ruler, some second David.”3 The creation pattern of a world governed by a man will be fulfilled.

Significant links between Psalm 101 and Psalms 92–100 include (1) “steadfast love” (92:2; 94:18; 98:3; 100:5; 101:1) and (2) “justice” (97:2; 99:4; 101:1).

Psalms 101–103 may form a small group.4 With its earnest petition, Psalm 102 expands the cry “When will you come to me?” from 101:2. Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg (1802–1869) suggests that “it is only the man who can with inward truth utter after him the words of [Ps. 101], that is entitled to appropriate as his own” the promises in Psalm 102 (fulfilled in Christ) and then to sing the glad praise of Psalm 103.5

Other scriptures that relate to the theme of Psalm 101 include (1) Deuteronomy 17:14–20; (2) 2 Samuel 23:1–7; (3) Job 31;6 (4) Psalms 15; 18:20–24; 24; (5) Proverbs 20:26; 25:5; 29:16; and (6) Isaiah 11:1–5 and 16:5.

The Text

Structure

The two uses of “the Lord” bracket the psalm (Ps. 101:1, 8). The question in 101:2b concludes 101:1–2b, which forms an introduction.7 Psalm 101:2c–4 focuses on the heart of the King himself (bracketed by “integrity of heart” and “a perverse heart”), while 101:5–8 focuses on his actions toward those who serve him.

Superscription

S    A Psalm of David.8

The shared designation A Psalm links the joy of Psalm 100 to the resolves and longing of the King in Psalm 101. The word Psalm is echoed in the verb “I will make music,” which shares the same root (101:1).

101:1–2b Share the Joy and Longing of Christ the King

1    I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

    to you, O Lord, I will make music.

2    I will ponder the way that is blameless.

    Oh when will you come to me?

The verbs in the first three lines are all cohortative, expressing a strong determination. The first two verbs (I will sing and I will make music) convey delight and warmth of affection, what Martin Luther (1483–1546) calls “the Gospel with feeling.”9 The Messiah delights to be precisely the kind of King who speaks this psalm.10

The first focus—and the headline of the psalm—is steadfast love (covenant love, חֶסֶד‎, khesed) and justice (מִשְׁפָּט‎, mishpat).11 Although these are often read as distinct and complementary, even perhaps in tension (merciful love with firm justice),12 their overlap in meaning is more important than how they might differ in nuance; each of them means treating people right. The first means a steady, unchanging, faithful, covenantal love and loyalty, the second a clear-sighted determination to act with absolute fairness. These are used together to describe God in, for example, Psalms 89:14; 119:149; and Jeremiah 9:24, and to describe believers in Hosea 12:6 and (most famously) Micah 6:8.

The words to you, O Lord in the second line make clear that these qualities are, supremely, attributes of God, which the King delights to share. Far from being a moralistic attempt at imitation, the King’s delight flows out of his devotion to the Father.

The third verb (I will ponder) means to give attention to, to consider, to understand, to gain insight (used, e.g., in Pss. 2:10 [“be wise”]; 14:2 [“understand”]; 41:1 [“considers”]).13 Delight and careful attention are inseparable. In the cohortative here it also conveys a set purpose. Here the way that is blameless (the moral life of integrity; cf. Gen. 17:1; Job 1:1, 8; 2:3; Ps. 18:30, 32) is, first and foremost, a description of the ways of the covenant Lord (in parallel with his steadfast love and justice); it will shape the way of the King.14Jesus Christ on earth could sing these first three lines, feeling in his own person a perfect delight in the Father’s goodness and teaching these attributes as “the weightier matters of the law” (Matt. 23:23).

The fourth line (Oh when will you come to me?) sounds a tone of yearning, almost of lament (lament is often associated with the question “When?”; cf. Pss. 42:2; 119:82, 84).15 Balancing a joyful coming to God in worship (100:2, 4), here is a longing for God to come to the King in blessing (cf. Ex. 20:24; Ps. 119:41, 77). It may echo David’s longing in the troubled day of 2 Samuel 6:9, when faced with the unbearable holiness of God (“How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”).16 The tone of the psalm melds glad singing, thoughtful pondering, and sorrowful yearning; delight in God is mixed with the recognition that his will is not yet done on earth as it is in heaven. The psalm invites us to enter into this delight and yearning with Christ the King, who fulfilled what David foreshadowed. Some church fathers took this also as a prayer for the coming of Christ in the incarnation, his coming to each soul by the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14:23), and his returning to us in glory.17

101:2c–4 Watch and Share the Resolve of Christ the King

    I will walk with integrity of heart

    within my house;

3    I will not set before my eyes

    anything that is worthless.

    I hate the work of those who fall away;

    it shall not cling to me.

4    A perverse heart shall be far from me;

    I will know nothing of evil.

The resolution of the King begins with a positive: I will walk18 (cohortative, expressing a determination) with integrity (blamelessness, the same word as in Ps. 101:2a) of heart (the inmost being). The blameless way of God is reflected in the blameless walk of the King, who will make the Father known (John 1:18). He does this within my house, meaning household or palace, government, and even dynasty (as in 2 Sam. 7). The context here is regal rather than domestic.

The positive of Psalm 101:2c–d is followed by five negatives. The first is about the people of whom the King approves (cf. Rom. 1:32): I will not set before my eyes speaks of the King’s desires.19Anything that is worthless means “a thing of worthlessness” (דְּבַר־בְּלִיָּעַל‎, debar beliaal; cf. “Belial,” 2 Cor. 6:15).20 The word worthless implies moral emptiness and consequent destruction, “unworthy aims which, being achieved, destroy” (as in Ps. 18:4, lit., “torrents of beliaal”).21All yearnings except steadfast love and justice are without moral value and end in destruction.

Second, I hate the work of those who fall away. The verb (here in the perfect form, unusually for this psalm) indicates a resolute renunciation (cf. Pss. 26:5; 31:6; 119:104). Those who fall away refers to those who commit transgression, those who turn from the path of blamelessness, and hence to those who apostatize.

Third—following closely from the second—It shall not cling to me, where the verb cling speaks eloquently of evil attaching itself to my heart and soul (cf. Gen. 2:24; 34:3; Deut. 11:22; 13:4). The closest parallels are Deuteronomy 13:17 and Job 31:7.

Fourth, A perverse heartshall be far from me. This literal translation helps us see how this resolve embraces both “I myself resolve not to have a perverse heart” and also “People with perverse hearts will be kept far from partnering with me.”

Fifth, I will know nothing of evil—describing a knowledge of personal experience (CSB: “I will not be involved with evil”).

The King who delights in the covenant Lord and longs for his saving presence (Ps. 101:1–2b) is utterly determined that his own desires will be shaped by this delight (101:2c–4). Christ alone lived out this heart of blameless virtue. When the Spirit of Christ works in us, as he first worked in David, we too will find these resolutions of faith welling up within our hearts.

101:5–8 Live as Those Who May Serve Christ the King

5    Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly

    I will destroy.

    Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart

    I will not endure.

Psalm 101:5 speaks of how the King treats wicked people. Each description is followed by a crisp resolve to punish. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly speaks of one of the most cruel evils in the abuse of power (cf. Ex. 23:1; Prov. 10:18; 20:19; 30:10; possibly echoed in James 4:11),22 an evil from which David had suffered cruelly in the court of Saul. Such a one “is able to murder any subject, and ruin his state, by secret and false reports of him, while the innocent is ignorant of it, and wanteth all opportunity to defend himself.”23 These, while impenitent, I will destroy (as in Ps. 101:8).24Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart probes beneath the slander to the heart (cf. Prov. 21:4, 24; 29:23). The arrogant heart is literally “a broad/wide heart” in the negative sense of having “big ideas” about oneself.25 These, if impenitent, the godly King will not endure.

6    I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

    that they may dwell with me;

    he who walks in the way that is blameless

    shall minister to me.

This verse interrupts the negatives with a glorious affirmation (cf. Prov. 22:11): I will look with favor (lit., “my eyes on”). Each description is followed by a brief response. First, the unusual phrase the faithful in the land speaks of people who are reliable and trustworthy (cf. 1 Sam. 22:14; Neh. 13:13; Prov. 11:13; 25:13). The land is the promised land. The reward is that they may dwell with the King. Second, he who walks in the way that is blameless (echoing Ps. 101:2a), who images the King as the King images God, is rewarded with ministry. Not only will he dwell with the King, he will share in his government.

7    No one who practices deceit

    shall dwell in my house;

    no one who utters lies

    shall continue before my eyes.

The slander of Psalm 101:5 introduced the motif of deceitful speech, which continues here. With the verb “to dwell” picked up from 101:6, we learn who will notdwell in (be “in the midst of”) my house (the palace or government of 101:2), in a place of power: the one who practices (“works,” echoing “the work” in 101:3) deceit (cf. 32:2; 52:2; 120:2–3), the one who utters lies, including the secret slanderer of 101:5 and all other twisters of truth. To dwell in my house is to continue (“be established”; NASB: “maintain his position”) before my eyes (the eyes echoing the first word in the Hebrew of 101:6: “look with favor”). As Philip Eveson says, “David . . . was a type of the Christ who will banish from his heavenly city ‘whoever loves and practises a lie’ (Revelation 22:15).”26 Proverbs 29:12 pictures the invasive power of deceit in places of influence: “If a ruler listens to falsehood, / all his officials will be wicked.”

8    Morning by morning I will destroy

    all the wicked in the land,

    cutting off all the evildoers

    from the city of the Lord.

The terrible but necessary climax is the determination of the King to cleanse the land (the promised land that will be fulfilled in the new creation), which is also the city of the Lord, a reference finally to the New Jerusalem. All the promised land will be the city of God. This he will do morning by morning, an idiom expressing both urgency (the first action of the day; cf. Ex. 18:13; 2 Sam. 15:2; Jer. 21:12) and perseverance in the task (what John Calvin calls “unremitted exertion”).27 The verb I will destroy echoes Psalm 101:5. The human being to whom this terrible task is entrusted is the King (here, as in 18:40). The repeated word all leaves no wickedness remaining. The phrase cutting off speaks of a final separation from all life and hope (cf. 12:3; 34:16). All impenitent evildoers—and all wickedness—will be excluded from the New Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 21:8; 22:15; note the echoes of lies and falsehood).

Reflection and Response

1. Our first response is to reflect on this godly determination of David and the desperate sadness of watching him fail. As we watch, we remember that all those who think that they stand must take heed lest they fall (1 Cor. 10:12). We can have no self-righteousness, let alone self-confidence; if even David, the man after God’s own heart, should fail like this, no mere human can hope to exercise power aright. Like David, “we shall find need to write a Psalm of penitence very soon after our Psalm of good resolution.”28 And yet it is good to resolve to use our power for justice, then to repent when we fail, and again to resolve afresh.

2. We wonder at the godly perfection with which the Lord Jesus Christ on earth both resolved to keep the commitments of Psalm 101 and fulfilled them. And so we cry, “Come, Lord Jesus!” and long for his return in glory. Only then will all power be exercised with steadfast love and justice.

3. Pastors in Christ’s church must hear this psalm as a call never to allow our power to go to our heads, never to allow ourselves to become those who misuse our influence, but always to walk by the Spirit of Christ in his footsteps (note how 1 Tim. 3:1–13; 2 Tim. 2:14–26; and Titus 1:5–9 echo some of the themes of Psalm 101).

4. Eveson comments, “It became a practice among a number of puritan families of the seventeenth century for expositions of this psalm to be used by ministers called to give a sermon when a couple set up a new home or when a family moved to a new house.”29

5. The grand principle that power is given in order to exercise on earth the steadfast love and justice of God extends beyond the church to everyone given authority in any and every sphere of life, from parents in the family to teachers, managers, and senior people in any organization right up to politicians and heads of state (cf. 1 Pet. 2:14). In the Book of Common Prayer, it is set as a “Proper Psalm for the Anniversary of the Accession of the Monarch.” Luther treated Psalm 101 as a manual for the Christian prince, lamenting that “where there are godless kings and lords, who, according to Psalm 2, are enemies of God and of His Christ, there you have a nice mess.”30 One seventeenth-century ruler sent an unfaithful government minister a copy of Psalm 101; it became a proverb, when an official misbehaved, to say, “He will certainly soon receive the prince’s psalm.”31 It would make a good psalm for any president or monarch.

6. Against the nonsense that says a person’s private life is of no significance for his or her public office, David Dickson comments, “He that purposeth to carry a public charge well, must discharge the duty of a private man well in his own person, and make his own personal carriage exemplary to all who shall hear of him.”32

7. The severe warnings of Psalm 101:5 and 7–8 speak to us when power begins to go to our heads. When our flawless King ushers in his kingdom, there will be no place for any exercise of power other than that which mirrors his perfect covenant love and justice. “This was David’s resolution as a type of Christ,” writes Dickson, “and howsoever in execution much was wanting in the type, yet Christ will perform all this exactly in his own appointed time, and in his own order, partly in this life, partly at men’s death, and partly at the last day.”33

1  Derek Kidner, Psalms, 2 vols., TOTC (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), 2:359.

2  E.g., John Calvin (1509–1564), Commentary on the Book of Psalms, trans. James Anderson, in Calvin’s Commentaries (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1993), 4:86.

3  A. F. Kirkpatrick, The Book of Psalms: With Introduction and Notes, 3 vols., CBSC 20 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1892), 3:590. Cf. Philip Eveson, Psalms: From Suffering to Glory, 2 vols., WCS (Darlington, UK: EP Books, 2014–2015), 2:202.

4  Pss. 101 and 103 are the only “of David” psalms in book 4. Some think this hints that Ps. 102 is also Davidic. See W. Dennis Tucker Jr. and Jamie A. Grant, Psalms, NIVAC (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 2:495–60; Robertson, Flow of the Psalms, 166.

5  E. W. Hengstenberg, Commentary on the Psalms, trans. P. Fairbairn and J. Thomson, 3 vols., CFTL 1–2, 12 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1845), 3:204.

6  “The king in this psalm and Job in [Job 31] are much alike, both powerful persons with social responsibility and great freedom about how to deploy that power.” Walter Brueggemann and William H. Bellinger Jr., Psalms, NCBC (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 432.

7  John Goldingay, Psalms, 3 vols., BCOTWP (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006–2008), 3:140.

8  In Hebrew the superscription is the start of verse 1.

9  Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia, 1958), 11:294.

10Calvin, Psalms, 4:87.

11  Note the similar opening to Ps. 89.

12  We often find this distinction in older writers, from the patristic period to at least the Reformation, who used the Greek (ἔλεος καὶ κρίσιν) or Latin translations from the Greek. The nuances in the Greek (and Latin) were more differentiated than in the Hebrew. E.g., Athanasius of Alexandria (ca. 296–373) speaks of “tempering the judgment with mercy.” Athanasius, The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus, trans. Robert C. Gregg, Classics of Western Spirituality (London: SPCK, 1980), 23.

13  Some suggest that here it means also to expound or teach this wisdom. Goldingay, Psalms, 3:141; James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, 2 vols., EBTC (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2021), 2:211.

14  Commenting on integrity/blamelessness, Theodoret of Cyrus (393–ca. 466) writes, “My private face corresponded to my public one.” Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms, trans. Robert C. Hill, 2 vols., FC 101–102 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2000), 2:147.

15  From this point on, most of the psalm has a “three-two” meter, a longer line followed by a shorter line, often characteristic of laments.

16Kirkpatrick, Psalms, 3:589.

17  J. M. Neale (1818–1866) and R. F. Littledale (1833–1890), A Commentary on the Psalms from Primitive and Medieval Writers and from the Various Office-Books and Hymns of the Roman, Mozarabic, Ambrosian, Gallican, Greek, Coptic, Armenian, and Syriac Rites, 2nd ed., 4 vols. (London: Joseph Masters, 1869–1874), 3:278.

18  Hithpael of הלךְ‎, expressing the idea of walking around, the stuff of everyday life.

19Augustine mentions the idioms “He can’t take his eyes off her” and “He can’t even spare me a glance” to demonstrate that “to set before my eyes” means to love. Augustine, Expositions of the Psalms, trans. Maria Boulding, ed. John E. Rotelle and Boniface Ramsey, 6 vols. (New York: New City Press, 2000), 5:35. The verb “saw” in 2 Sam. 11:2 has the same sense of strong desire but is ironic in view of what David says in the psalm.

20  See this exact phrase in Deut. 15:9 (“an unworthy thought”) and Ps. 41:8 (“a deadly thing”).

21  J. A. Motyer (1924–2016), The Psalms, in New Bible Commentary, 21st century ed., ed. G. J. Wenham, J. A. Motyer, D. A. Carson, and R. T. France (Leicester, UK: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 551.

22  Frank Lothar Hossfeld (1942–2015) and Erich Zenger (1939–2010), Psalms, trans. Linda M. Maloney, ed. Klaus Baltzer, 3 vols., Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005–2011), 3:17.

23  David Dickson (1583–1663), A Commentary on the Psalms (London: Banner of Truth, 1959), 2:200.

24  The NIV rendering, “silence,” adopts a less likely meaning of the verb.

25  Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101–150, WBC 21 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2018), 6.

26  Eveson, Psalms, 2:204.

27  Calvin, Psalms, 4:94.

28  Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892), The Treasury of David, 3 vols. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2016), 2.2:240.

29  Eveson, Psalms, 2:201.

30  Luther, Luther’s Works, 13:180, 182.

31  F. Delitzsch (1813–1890), Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, trans. Francis Bolton, CFTL, 4th ser., vols. 29–31 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1892), 3:107.

32  Dickson, Psalms, 2:199.

33  Dickson, Psalms, 2:201.

A poor man, one single poor man, is praying in this psalm, and he does not pray silently. We have the opportunity to listen to him and find out who he is; and perhaps we shall find that he is none other than the one of whom the apostle wrote [in 2 Corinthians 8:9].

Augustine

Expositions of the Psalms

It is Christ, in the days of his humiliation, that is before us.

Andrew Bonar

Christ and His Church in the Book of Psalms

Psalm 102

Orientation

The Jesus whose young life was cut short by death (Ps. 102:23–24) is the Jesus whose years have no end (102:27) and who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). The power of his life, destroyed at the cross and yet indestructible (Heb. 7:16), is the only hope of each afflicted believer who prays Psalm 102. The executed sufferer is the eternal Savior. The psalm is supremely about the sufferer who is God incarnate praying to God in heaven. This wonderful paradox lies at the heart of Psalm 102.

We must consider two questions before we can approach the psalm with confidence.1 The first is the relationship between the individual afflicted believer (102:1–11) and the whole church of God (102:12–22). This move from the intensely personal lament of 102:1–11 to the resolutely corporate focus on “Zion” in 102:12–22 is very striking. We do not know who wrote the psalm, but it is natural to suppose that the author speaks both for himself (in the individual lament) and for his nation. Allan Harman makes the plausible suggestion that he might be “a member of the Davidic royal house who composed it while in exile.”2 We cannot be sure.

The superscription indicates that the one who prays is a believer who is afflicted; he pours out his heart to “the Lord” and thereby identifies as a member of “Zion” (102:12–13). He feels his affliction as a part of the sufferings of the church: “The poet is one into whose heart the sorrows of the nation have entered so deeply that he feels them all his own. . . . [H]e speaks not for himself alone, but for the whole body of his fellow-countrymen in exile.”3As David Dickson writes, “The most kindly grief of a lively member of the church is that grief wherein he sympathizeth with the calamity of the body.”4 This grief is felt supremely by Jesus, movingly displayed when he weeps over Jerusalem.

It is likely that the one who laments does so as a representative, even a leader, of the covenant people. Many older writers consider David to have been the author (as of Pss. 101; 103); if that is the case, it is all the more apparent that the psalmist here identifies in his sufferings and hopes with those of the people. As Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg writes, for David, “every man’s prospects for the future are cast after the mould of his own personal experience.”5 The superscription, however, does not claim that David is the author, and 102:12–22 accords very naturally with the context of exile. Whenever he wrote, the psalmist prayed by the Spirit of the anointed King in a way that opens up a very natural fulfillment in Christ.6 This is confirmed when we consider the second question.

The second interpretive question concerns the quotation of Psalm 102:25–27 in Hebrews 1:10–12.7 The author of Hebrews seems to choose this psalm text for at least three reasons: (1) to support the declaration that it was through the Son that God created the world (Heb. 1:2), (2) to underpin the emphasis on Christ’s permanence (especially his permanent priesthood, Heb. 7:23–25), and (3) to support the contrast between this transient order and the eternal order of the world to come (Heb. 12:26–28). So the second question is this: In what sense can these psalm verses be spoken by God (the Father) “of the Son” (Heb. 1:8)?8 The problem is that, on the face of it, the whole of Psalm 102:24–28 is a second-person address from the psalmist to God.9 How do we resolve this question?

Some think that Hebrews simply takes words that apply to God and refers them to the Son as part of the writer’s declaration of the greatness of Jesus Christ. For example, John Calvin argues, especially from Psalm 102:13 and 15, that although Christ is not named in the psalm (it is not explicitly messianic), only in Christ will we find the God who is described in the psalm, who will reunite the whole world.10

This approach assumes that Hebrews is using the quotation to declare something about Jesus rather than to support an argument about Jesus. Once we are convinced of the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we will acknowledge the validity of such a declaration; it may be that the author expects his (Christian) readers to acknowledge this declaration already.

Alternatively, he may write not simply to declare but rather to persuade wavering Jewish Christian believers of the greatness of Jesus; he cannot assume that they are already securely convinced. If so, the catena of Old Testament quotations in Hebrews 1:5–13 can have persuasive force only if his readers already know that these texts are messianic and speak of the Son. It will persuade no one for the writer to say, “Here are some verses that say that God is the eternal Creator; Jesus is God; therefore, Jesus is the eternal Creator,” unless they are already persuaded that Jesus is God.

The Septuagint attests to a pre-Christian understanding that Psalm 102:25–27 is messianic; this understanding accords with the theme in Psalms 2, 45, 97, and 110 that the eternal dominion of God will be exercised on earth through his anointed King—and Psalm 45 is even quoted in Hebrews 1:8–9, just before Psalm 102 in Hebrews 1:10–12.11 The Septuagint adds the vocative address “you, Lord” in Psalm 102:25. Although this is not in the Hebrew, it may be that the Septuagint correctly understands 102:25–27 to be God’s answer to his Son, who is understood to be praying the psalm.12 When Hebrews quotes Psalm 102 (almost verbatim from the LXX), it does so knowing that its readers rightly understand the psalm as messianic. The writer can argue from this understanding to persuade them of the greatness of Jesus the Messiah.13

In this way the New Testament teaches us to read Psalm 102 supremely as both the prayer of Jesus, the representative head of the church (102:1–24), and the answer of the Father (102:25–27). The psalm is given, in Christ, to each afflicted member of the church. As we read 102:25–27, we rejoice and marvel that the eternal Son of God, to whom these verses are addressed, is one with God the Father in the Holy Spirit. We may therefore read 102:25–27 as addressed to God by the afflicted psalmist, so conscious of his days being cut short, appealing to the eternal God to save him and his people, and as addressed simultaneously by the Father to the Son on behalf of his church. It may be that the statement “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8) echoes Psalm 102:27.14

In its canonical context, Psalm 102 expands the anguished cry of 101:2, “Oh when will you come to me?” The other significant links with Psalm 101 are (1) “the city of the Lord” (101:8) with “Zion” (102:13, 16, 21) and (2) the heart (101:2, 5; 102:4).15

Other scriptural links include (1) the language of lament in Psalms 22; 69; 79; and 143:3–4; (2) the concern with transient mortality in Psalm 90, the first psalm of book 4 (note “grass,” “days,” “years”); (3) the eternity of God in the context of the distress of Zion in Lamentations (e.g., “all generations,” Ps. 102:12; Lam. 5:19); and (4) some of the language of Isaiah 40–66.

Because the psalmist’s sufferings come from the wrath of God (Ps. 102:10), this has traditionally been seen as one of the seven penitential psalms.16

The Text

Structure

Psalm 102:1–11 is a personal lament. This is followed in 102:12–22 by a corporate expression of faith (divided into 102:12–17 and 102:18–22). An important link between these sections is the word “prayer” in 102:S, 1, and 17. Psalm 102:23–24 returns to an urgent prayer of lament. At the same time, 102:25–27 is the promise of the Father to the Son and the continued prayer of the afflicted believer to the triune God, with a particular focus on Jesus the Son (see the orientation section above). Psalm 102:28 is a concluding word of trust.

Superscription

S