Seder 124: Psalm 143---A Humble Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance

 Psalm 143 is one of a group of seven "penitential psalms" grouped together in Christian tradition---the others are 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130.  We see why it has been placed in this group in the first two verses, where the psalmist (traditionally David) appeals to God's mercy and faithfulness and then prays, "Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you."

Verse 2 expresses a truth affirmed throughout the Bible, the fact that no one is sinless.  When Paul asserts that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), he joins a long line of biblical writers.  For example:  

Proverbs 20:9:  "Who can say, `I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin'?"

Ecclesiastes 7:20: "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins."

Psalm 130:3:  "If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?"

Mal 3:2:  "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?"

1 Kings 8:46:  "If they sin against you---for there is no one who does not sin..."

The psalmist feels persecuted, discouraged, and alone.  He thinks about God's great works of redemption, and hopes for God's quck intervention in his own situation (vv 3-6).  

His prayer includes 

• request for deliverance and rescue.
• expression of confidence in God.
• a request for guidance.  He desires to do what is right.
• an appeal to God's faithfulness to his people, and for justice to be done with regard to his tormentors.

Overall he humbly submits to God, asking for both deliverance and guidance.

Seder 112: Psalm 10---Temporary Success of the Wicked

Psalm 10 is one of 34 psalms that has no superscription in the MT, one of only 3 in Book 1 (the others in Book 1 are Psalms 1 and 2).  In the LXX, there are 17 psalms with no superscription, and Psalms 9 and 10 are combined as Psalm 9.

Like Psalm 73, Psalm 10 deals with the question of the temporary success enjoyed by the wicked (see verses 2-11).  When the wicked exploit others with seeming impunity, they may be emboldened to ramp up their bad behavior and mistake God's patience for indifference.  They imagine that they will "not be moved" (v 6), something that is really only true for those who trust in God (Ps 15:5; 16:8; 125;1).

The wicked tend to use speech as a weapon.  "His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity" (v 7).  Paul quotes this verse from the LXX in Rom 3:14 as part of a string of scriptures showing man's universal sinfulness.  We shouldn't think of "the wicked" in this psalm as just someone other than us; we all have sinned.      

The psalmist prays in vv 12-15 for God to intervene on behalf of those exploited by the wicked.  He appeals to God's reputation (v 13) and righteous character (v 14) and prays a "thy kingdom come" prayer for the elimination of all evil (v 15).  In verses 16-18, God's universal rule is affirmed.  The success of the wicked is just a temporary phenomenon.

Seder 78: Psalm 5---Seeking Help with Confidence

In Psalm 5 the psalmist comes before God confident that God will hear both his spoken words and his thoughts ("my groaning" in verse 1).  These come out as a cry for help (v 2).  

With a new day comes renewed hope.  God's mercies are "new every morning" (Lam 3:23).  In the morning the psalmist reaches out for help (v 3).  He faces difficulty caused by evildoers, and he knows that God hates and judges evil (vv 4-5).  

While the wicked are not admitted into God's presence, the psalmist believes, based on God's mercy, that he will be accepted when he bows before God in submission (v 7).  He asks for God's guidance in taking the right path (v 8), and for God's righteous judgment upon the wicked (vv 9-10).  

In verses 11-12, his prayer expands to include all who seek refuge in God.  Commentator Willem VanGemeren sees this prayer as prefiguring Jesus' prayer for his disciples in John 17.  The psalmist concludes with the confident assertion that God blesses and protects the righteous.

This psalm is quoted once in the New Testament.  Paul quotes verse 9 in Rom 3:13 ("their throat is an open grave") as part of a chain of verses describing human sinfulness.

Seder 72: Psalm 51---Prayer for Forgiveness and Renewal

 Psalm 51, one of the seven "penitential psalms," is also one of the few psalms connected to a specific episode in the life of David.  The superscription associates it with the time when David is confronted by Nathan about his sins of adultery and murder (2 Sam 12).  

Ben Witherington points out in Psalms Old and New that there are some verbal links between 2 Sam 12 and this psalm.  In 2 Sam 12:9 Nathan declares that David has done "evil in his [i.e., God's} sight," something that David confesses in Psalm 51:4.  David admits in in 2 Sam 12:13 that he has "sinned against the Lord", which he also goes on to confess in Psalm 51:4.

When David came to a full realization of the magnitude of what he had done, he knew that he had no recourse but to throw himself upon God's mercy, relying upon the merciful nature expressed in Ex 34:6-7.  He knew that God's judgment delivered to him by Nathan was right.  

David also knew that his problem ran deeper than a handful of specific sins.  Human sin can be pervasive (v 5), and a moral cleansing from God would be needed to restore David's relationship with his Creator.  "Create in me a clean heart," David prayed in verse 10.  The word for "create", bara, is a kind of creating that only God can do.  David did not want to end up like Saul, who had lost the "spirit of a sound mind" after he had failed to obey God as king.  

David looked forward to praising God and helping in the restoration of others after his own renewal.  He also prayed for spiritual renewal in Israel.  For him and for the nation, he knew that humble repentance was a prerequisite for the offering of acceptable sacrifices.

Paul quoted Psalm 51:4 in Romans 3:4 in support of God's reliability.  Richard Hays has proposed that in the early chapters of this epistle, Paul was playing a Nathan-like role, with the reader as David.  At the end of Romans 1 Paul detailed how pagans had strayed far from God.  But lest the reader become too smug, Paul went on to add that all of us have sinned and need God's forgiveness. 

Psalm 51 is associated in Jewish tradition with Shabbat Shuvah, the special Sabbath of repentance that falls between the Feast of Trumpets and Day of Atonement.  In 2021, that Sabbath fell on Sept 11.  At Church of the Messiah, Kyle Kettering spoke about the meaning and importance of repentance, referring also to Matt 4:12-17 and Hosea 14.   

Seder 60: Psalm 147---Reasons for Praise

 Psalm 147 gives a fourfold call to praise God (vv 1, 7. 12. 20) and brings out several reasons for doing so. 

God is praised first for Israel's restoration after exile, including the return of people from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (vv 2-3).  This example dates the psalm as postexilic.  (The LXX and Vulgate associate Psalms 146-147 with Haggai and Zechariah.)  

The rebuilding and dedication of Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah are discussed in Neh 6:15-7:3; 12:27-43.  Prophecies of rebuilding, covering this restoration and restoration yet to come, are given in Jer 31:38-40; Isa 60:17-18; 61:4-6; Isa 65:18.  Some examples of prophecies on regathering of people from exile are Deut 30:1-4; Isa 11:12. 

The midrash on Psalm 147 speculates on the identity of the "outcasts of Israel" in verse 2.  Along with people returning from exile, there is speculation about the futures of Korah and Achan. 

Additional reasons for praise are God's detailed knowledge of, power over, and care for his creation (vv 4-6, 8-9). He especially cares for people who fear him and put their trust in him (vv 10-11).  

In the Septuagint this psalm is divided into two separate psalms, with verses 1-11 in one and verses 12-20 in the second.  In the MT the two parts of Psalm 147 fit together well.  Verses 13-14, like verses 2-3, praise God for his care for Jerusalem.  Verses 15-18, like verses 4-5, 8-9, picture God's power as Creator. 

Finally, God is praised in verses 19-20 for revealing precious instruction to Israel.  These verses remind Christians of Paul's words in Romans 3:1-2: 

"Then what advantage has the Jew?  Or what is the value of the circumcision?  Much in every way.  To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God."

Christians from all nations are thankful to Israel for preserving God's Word and passing it down to us.

Seder 45: Psalm 14---The Ubiquity of Folly

 "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God, " begins Psalm 14.  This kind of fool is not what we now call an atheist. one who does not believe in the existence of God.  Instead, this is what we might call a "practical atheist", a person who knows that God exists but does not believe that God will hold him accountable for his deeds    \

In biblical wisdom literature, the wise are those who fear God and heed his teaching.  Wisdom literature contrasts the wise with fools, those who do not fear God or heed his teaching.  This kind of folly is synonymous with wickedness, as we see in the remainder of Ps 14:1:  "They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good."  

The psalmist laments the fact that there is so much of this folly extant, even among God's people. "They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one" (v 3).   He affirms that God does indeed see and care about human behavior, which means that fools are in for some unpleasant surprises when their day of reckoning comes.  

The psalm closes with a prayer for the restoration of Israel (v 7).  

Paul quotes Ps 14:1-3 along with a number of other passages (Pss 5: 9; 140: 3; 10: 7; Isa 59: 7-8; Ps 36: 1) to make the point that all people have sinned (Rom 3:9-18).  Interestingly, there are some manuscripts of the Septuagint in which verses 13-18 of Romans 3 are inserted between Ps 14:3 and Ps 14:4, clearly a Christian interpolation.