Epaggelia

v1-8,  Notice the hope & trust expressed in this praise, while contrasted with envy, v1, which progresses to worry, then to fretting and anger, then ending in evil, v8. This Psalm of David is certainly written in his old age, v25, and his wisdom shown in this praise is an example of how to answer the age old question by all of us: why do the wicked experience such pleasurable success while the righteous suffer? Jesus answers us in John 16:33 & 1st Jn. 4:4.

v9-11 are an introduction to v22, 29, 34 which is discussed in the Koran (21:105) where Psalm 37:29 is quoted verbatim. Jesus alluded to v29 from quoting, v9-11, in the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:5, and it is still a well-known verse in the world. Worldly people largely misunderstand it, but it’s explanation is straightforward. To understand “inherit the earth”, we can look at Abraham’s faith in Jesus, and Paul’s teaching on Abraham, Romans 4:13. Yes Jesus lived out the faith of Abraham perfectly. The lifetime of Abraham’s faith led him to only own one parcel of ground, a burial place for his wife, Sarah. What kind of inheritance is that for the descendant of Abraham which would bless the entire world? Appropriately a different gravesite would figure most prominently in Christianity! The children of Abraham (Isaac & Jacob & Esau) would later bury Abraham himself with his wife Sarah, but of course their ancient gravesite near Hebron today has no significance to Christians now because we believe only the dust of their corpses are there, their real identity is in Heaven. When the inheritance occurs for “the meek” as Jesus describes all the righteous people of God, it is then we will experience the glory of the new heaven and the new earth. But for now, because of what Jesus did at his gravesite, as the descendant of Abraham which blesses the world, we have spiritually attained this inheritance because of our faith in Christ, the seed of Abraham. In one sense faithful Christians already have inherited the earth, as being in Christ and he is now sovereign over it, Matthew 28:18, but not unbelieving worldly people, for now, they are the devil’s, Ephesians 6:12, John 8:44 & 1st Jn. 3:10.

v12-21 , Only the Lord can laugh at the wicked. Whereas we his subjects should empathize, because we once were wicked too. If a Christian can maintain and grow this attitude, we will succeed in evangelism. The crescendo of this Psalm, is v16, worthy of our memory work, and it’s sentiment is echoed in Matthew 6:32-33, Philippians 4:11-13 & 1st Timothy 6:6-8.

v22-34, when or if the Lord is upholding our hand, v24, disaster will never totally defeat us. Paul as a Christian understood this little victory led to a great eternal victory, read 2nd Cor. 4:7-10. Do you ever prayerfully picture the Lord upholding your hand? Could this poetic vision be in Paul’s mind when he wrote, 1st Timothy 2:8. God wants holy/clean hands to hold, James 4:8.

v35-40, The ultimate plight of the wicked is in stark contrast here in v35-36, to the present reality of the wicked from our perspective. If you work in a prison, you are constantly exposed to the injustice of “rehabilitating” the lives of some murderous thieves via a temporary “justice” system, which can be disheartening for the righteous, if we lose sight of the ultimate victory for the righteous. This passage should remind us that the justice of humanity at best, is inconsequential in the long run. We all should be waiting on the justice of the Lord in Jesus Christ. Never forget the eternal gospel picture of His justice, Revelation 19:1-3.

There are at least seven lessons in this Psalm. It is an acrostic (Alphabetic) Psalm where in Hebrew each line begins with the successive Hebrew letter. However, it is irregular. One letter (vau) is missing and another (pe) is repeated. There are only a few Psalms written in this style, many Rabbis say they are primarily used for teaching children, as well as praise. The title says, “A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech (King Achish) who drove him away, and he departed.” This refers to the events of 1 Samuel 21:10-15 where David, because he was afraid, acted like he was crazy before Achish, the king of Gath. The Psalm does not indicate any attempt to vindicate David’s action. In fact, in the Psalm, David makes no comment about his conduct. He merely recalls his feelings at the time of his deliverance.

A. The point of the Psalm is to praise Jehovah as our provider, protector, and deliverer. God gives us in this Psalm many good reasons for trusting Him while in trouble, so that we grow courageous for the next trial that comes our way, to see how God helps us.

B.  Fear must be taught (v. 11). If we fear God, we have been taught to fear God. If we want our children to fear God, we must teach them to fear God. When we wonder why some of our children have no use for God or his word, we would do well to consider that maybe we didn’t teach them to fear God.

C. What it means to fear God. The term “fear” is equated with several other expressions. These terms serve as a commentary on what is involved in fearing God, v. 8 describes one who “trusts in him.” v10 says “seek the Lord.”  v15 calls this one “righteous.” v22 says he is a servant.

D. The Lord protects those who fear him (v. 7, 15, 17, 19). The Lord cares about his people. He delivers them from their troubles.

E. The Lord blesses those who fear him (v. 8-10). God gives us all that we need (2 Pet. 1:3). There is no promise that the Lord will give us all we want. He did promise that he would grant all we need. While the young lion may hunger, his people will not lack any good thing (v. 10).

F. Those who fear God are those who really enjoy life (v. 12). Those who seek pleasure from life without the fear of God, have no idea of what lasting joy is.

G. God listens to those who fear him (v. 15-22). What a privilege to have God’s ear tuned to our request! Such an honor is not granted to just anyone. It is an honor bestowed only on those who fear God. (1st Peter 3:12)

John the disciple Jesus loved, was keen to show how truly He was indeed the Lamb of God, fulfilled in David’s messianic prophecy, Psa. 34:20. Moses commanded that when a lamb was sacrificed, (Ex. 12:46) none of the bones should be broken, indeed the care taken in it’s death was shown through the careful guidance God had in giving his Son as The Lamb, ensuring not a bone was broken, John 19:36. How could this be achieved while undergoing all the savage inhumanity inflicted on Jesus’ body? God is in control, and is our Deliverer. The resurrection was in sight all the while, and indeed with perfect timing, a reality.

v1-3, It is possible that this Psalm was written during David’s old age, If David fell sick and thought he may die, then he could be very concerned about what his enemies would do to take advantage of his children’s animosity towards each other. Adonijah & Solomon were in competition for the throne. But someone was praying for David, 1st Kings 1:28-35. Please read James 5:14-15 for faith in the Lord’s ability to heal the sick. There are 3 passages in the Psalms attributed to David, stating he suffered severe sickness which brought him close to death. Psalm 30:2-3, 31:7-10, 32:3-4. But outside of the Psalms we have no specific description of this illness.

v4-5, How beautiful to know that God’s anger lasts only for a moment. God has the power and ability to forget our sins when we meet His conditions for grace in our repentance. God’s anger does not taint the way He deals with us for the rest of our lives. This is a quality that is very difficult for us to attain, but an important characteristic to work on in our lives. We have the tendency to keep our anger burning for months. Sometimes we like to be angry at others and use it as a device to sway above others, manipulating them to do what we want because of our anger or distrust of them. God does not treat us this way and we should not treat others this way, since we ourselves have been forgiven of so much! Ephesians 4:32 & 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

v6-7, The riches of King David, led him to trust in wealth, at one point in his life, it got him into trouble with the Lord. Jesus warns us of this attitude, Luke 12:19. If David fell prey to the false god of money, the Lord had warned him in The Law, of the awful consequences. “… On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide My face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?’ And I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods”, Duet. 31:16-18

v8-10, David’s questions show the meaningless waste of his life, if God chooses to let him die before his throne is claimed by one who will build the Temple. The apostle Paul teaches us about the futility of anxiety, encouraging us to pray with gratitude for whatever blessings we know of to date, Philippians 4:6-7. Paul also teaches Christians in Thessalonica, “We…sent Timothy…to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know” (1 Thessalonians 3:1-4).

v11, The inevitable joy which David hopes in, and indeed experiences is in this Psalm, as it is in the teachings and life of Jesus. Christ the man of sorrows, rejoiced, Luke 10:21. He taught us that God still rejoices, even if it is in only one wayward foolish child coming back to him, Lk. 15:22.

v12,  The amazing grace & mercy of God, when felt upon the human heart forgiven, evokes eternal gratitude, see Acts 4:20 & Revelation 7:12. Do you know of this experience?

v1, When the Lord is our Light, he casts out fear of Christ’s enemies from our heart, it is our responsibility to ensure our mind is focused on this heart-felt experience and condition, Jesus wants us to experience this same courage, as David did. John 1:4-5, 8:12.

v3, Being courageous in the face of death, has strengthened many Christian martyrs, which is why Paul could write 2nd Corinthians 5:6-8 for us today, making available to us a bravery that will stand against any enemy of Christ.

v4, Faith in God can give us priorities which will not waver throughout the many seasons of our life on earth. Having “one” of the goals in our heart with the Psalmist is to be “in” God’s Temple. For a Christian that is “in” Jesus Christ. See 2nd Corinthians 6:16 & Ephesians 2:21.

v5, The reason God is our salvation and soul’s security is because the ultimate height of the rock Christ is, and upon whom live & work, 1st Peter 2:6-8. He is a rock that will not sink, nor ever move! Upon Him, we have the upper advantage while engaged in any spiritual battle. See Luke 6:46-48.

v6, Joy is an innate part of making sacrifices for David, and moreso for us Christians, because our sacrifices are made holy by the perfect sanctity, purity and power of Christ, and not our own piety. Even during the memorial of communion proclaiming the death of Christ, we can be thankful, and find a sense of joy that can never be stolen from our heart. Luke 19:37 shares with us the reason many people joyously praise God in Christ, and that is his miraculous provision of grace in their own life. Have you seen God’s grace and not felt joy? Acts 11:21-23.

v8, Desiring to see the face of God is real, and should be understood by Christians. It certainly was a reality God had for faithful Jews to hope in, read Hosea 5:15 & Jeremiah 29:12-13. Christ wanted his personal disciples to believe that if they had seen him, they had seen the Father, John 14:9-11 & 20:29. The only disciples that saw the physical manifestation of the Father in Jesus, was Peter, James & John during Christ’s transfiguration. So why might any of us feel cheated or betrayed if we doubt the Father is in Christ, or that Christ’s Spirit in us is God’s Spirit? Romans 8:9. Perhaps because we have not seen a miracle? Shouldn’t our eye-witness of salvation and maturity through conversion and victory over temptation, be enough?

V9-12. Do we pray for the Lord to keep us safe from spiritual enemies? Do we believe we are involved in a spiritual battle? See Ephesians 6:11-12. If not, perhaps this is why you’ve been left feeling no courage for Christ? If we don’t have strength to overcome temptation, maybe it is because we don’t think we are in a spiritual battle to begin with? If true, there would be no sense in asking for strength to fight a battle you didn’t believe you were in.

v13-14, Have you seen the goodness of God here and now in the land of the living, or do you think that is only reserved for the future of eternity? Do you document his goodness? Do you share His goodness that you have seen with other people? This engenders the strength of the Lord. If courage is faltering in your life as a Christian, take faith in this promise, 1st Thes. 3:12-13. This strength grows, see 2nd Corinthians 4:8-16.

David the King, in his maturity, could look back on being a shepherd boy, and call His God, “My Shepherd” This is amazing, because in their culture, a shepherd was one of the lowest positions a person could employ! Yet, Jesus the miracle-working prophet, teacher and savior, who proved to us He is the LORD would call Himself our “good shepherd” (John 10). If a family needed a shepherd, it was always the youngest son, like David, who got this lowly assignment….Jehovah God has chosen to be our shepherd, David says. The great God of the universe has stooped to take just such care of you and me, and he proved he could stoop, and yet be exalted to glory by becoming the Lamb of God on a cross, only to be resurrected! Remember, there are no menial tasks as a Christian, only menial attitudes.

Many shepherds in 1st century Israel actually live with their flock and is everything to it: guide, physician and protector. A leading Guide for providing the best food, Jesus is the bread of life. A great Physician for treating wounds that heal from the inside out. The spiritual healer that Christ is, renews the inner person as our outer person grows older. He is also the Protector of our very life, saving our soul, sanctifying our spirit and promising a resurrected body to each and every Christian, 1st Corinthians 15:42-44.

However, sheep are by nature, wanderers, and although they are born into a flock, they are apt to leave it, being exposed to danger. If a person doesn’t recognize our innate faulty character leaving us open to the consequences of our own sin, then we will never be able to say “the Lord is MY shepherd”, on the contrary, it will always be, “the Lord is the good shepherd”. While being true, it lacks the personal conviction that can save the sheep.

Being a lamb under the care of the “Good Shepherd” means two things, A Decision and A Desire. “I shall not want” means, we believe that “All my needs are supplied by the LORD, my shepherd.” AND “I shall not want” means, “I decide to not desire more than what the LORD, my shepherd gives. Lambs are trusting and not greedy, but goats are. Philip Keller in his book, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” writes that sheep do not lie down easily, unless four conditions are met. Because they are timid they will not lie down if they are afraid. Because they are social animals they will not lie down if there is friction among the sheep. If flies or parasites trouble them they will not lie down. Finally, if sheep are anxious about food or hungry they will not lie down. Rest comes only after the shepherd has dealt with fear, friction, flies, and famine. “He makes me lie down in green pastures”!

“He restores my soul” meaning, the rescue of a lost one. Picture the straying sheep brought back, as in Isaiah 49:5 or Psalm 60:1 & Hebrews 6:3. Repentance is something the Shepherd helps us with in granting or permitting us to change, see Romans 2:4 and 2nd Timothy 2:25. We can not repent all by our self.
“To Dwell in The House of the Lord forever”, is to be a child at home with our God; the whole world can be his house to a Christian; and when we ascend into the heavens we will not change our company, we will only go to dwell in the upper storey of the house of the Lord for ever. Because in a sense we are already in His House, that is, Christ, 1st Timothy 3:15.

Jesus chose words from this Psalm deliberately to describe His agony on the cross, Matthew 27:46. It is certain that Jesus was meditating on the Scriptures during the hours of his suffering and that he saw his crucifixion as a fulfillment of Psalm 22. As Jesus approached death while on a cross, it was then, that he felt the horror of God’s abhorrence of sin, he was bearing the brunt of our sins.

“Why have You forsaken Me?” There is a note of surprise in this cry from the Forsaken One, he seems bewildered; “We might easily imagine a situation in the life of King David where he experienced neglect. There were times when he found himself in impossible circumstances and wondered why God did not rescue him immediately. But for Jesus, this suffering was completely for one reason only; God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, 2nd Corinthians 5:21. Jesus not only endured the withdrawal of the Father’s fellowship, but also the actual outpouring of the Father’s wrath upon Him as a substitute for sinful humanity. This was the darkness of his horror; when he penetrated the depths of the gorge of suffering. At the same time, we cannot say that the separation between the Father and the Son at the cross was complete. Paul made this clear in 2nd Corinthians 5:19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself at the cross”. Our Father must have felt horrific pain too, letting this happen to His Son. If you look closely, you can see two sacrifices at once at the cross.

His enemies identified as the scornful enemies of God and His Anointed in their mockery of Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:43: He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now…). That is exactly what God was planning through it all. In a truly grace-filled man, his trust in God is known. This trust by believing men is not understood by the world. This true faith will almost certainly be mocked at some time or another. The time will come when the man of faith who has trusted in God will be abundantly and obviously justified, but that justification never comes when WE want it.

There is also some reason to believe (based mainly on John 19:34) that on the cross Jesus suffered from a ruptured heart, making the words “My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me” also amazingly specific. My tongue clings to My jaws: As was normal for anyone under the agony of crucifixion, Jesus suffered great thirst on the cross (John 19:28).

You have brought me to the dust of death: David used this moving poetic phrase to describe the extent of his misery. He probably had in mind the curse God pronounced upon Adam after his sin: For dust you are, and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19) Jesus bore the sting of Adam’s curse for us, Galatians 3:3, so that we would not have to bear it ourselves.

“I can count all My bones”: These words can only have their origin from the Spirit of Christ through the hands of the Psalmist David, so that The Son of David, despite his great suffering on the cross, suffered no broken bones. A prophecy that John carefully noted, Jn. 19:31-37. It fulfilled this prophecy, as well as Psalm 34:20 and the pattern of the Passover lamb as described in Exodus 12:46 & Numbers 9:12. This entire Psalm evokes an emotion to cry for mercy, from anyone that reads it with faith. Can you imagine what it would feel like to sing it?

The physical universe itself is a message from our Creator, He shouts “glory”.  He is glorious in His size, having created the entire cosmos so big. He is glorious in His engineering, having created something that works together so well, having all parts so interwoven & interactive. He is glorious in His artistry, having created something so beautiful. He is glorious in His goodness and kindness, having created such beauty for all humanity to see, no matter how ugly we are. He is glorious in his power, having laid within his creation such vast resources of energy. Glory should motivate a Christian to be thankful, not wasteful, gratitude that works to take care of such glory. Gratitude that praises our Creator, not ignores Him. This Psalm 19 was a favorite of C.S. Lewis because of how beautiful it’s Hebrew lyrics were, reflecting how beautiful the glory of God was in creation. The apostle Paul saw this lyrical beauty and applied the power of creation’s message to the gospel message in Romans 10:18. The nature of our universe is directly referred to in Romans 2:14-15, showing our conscience being shaped by a glorious creation all around us. This glorious creation has both a positive and negative effect on our conscience, which we can see in Romans 1:19-20. Therefore to overcome a negative effect on our conscience, we need Christ in our life, because he is the “Yes” that shapes our conscience for true goodness, 2nd Corinthians 1:19-20.

In verses 7-9, we have five different words to describe God’s Word, so that His message is known to us as more than what His creation can tell us about Him.

1. law (refreshes souls)
2. testimony (wiser minds)
3. statutes or precepts (gladens hearts)
4. commandment (enlightens eyes)
5. judgments or rules (truly right)

Messages reflect the nature of the authors, no matter who the author is. God is showing us that His nature is refreshing, wise, joyful, enlightening and always right! Indeed God is love, 1st John 4:8. Therefore God is justified in demanding our respect, not because of just who he is, but also because of how He has proved his virtuous nature in Jesus Christ. We just need to ask God for enough courage to submit to him, and show him due respect/awe/fear!

Ephesians 3:20 says “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us”. When we pray, do we ask him to strengthen us according to his power, or do we expect to do what is right on our own strength by our own wit? How do you pray?
The perfection of the law of the Lord is in His ability to convert or change us from the inside out, 2nd Peter 1:3 says He gives us everything that pertains to life & godliness. God’s word does not give us all knowledge, but all the knowledge it does give us is true and perfect. God’s word is never wrong in science or history or the understanding of either divine or human nature. The Bible says very little about science & history, but what it does say is true. Therefore for real life and real godliness, His word is perfectly able to change us into His perfection! Jesus is our righteousness and we become his righteousness, 2nd Corinthians 5:21.