Mike's Day ?: Psalm 9

Paraphrase and summary of Psalm 9:

I will sing and praise God,
my enemies will turn back because of you - you will destroy them.

The LORD reigns - he governs and judges justly, and never forakes those who seek after him
Sing praise to him, because he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

O LORD see how my enemies persecute me! Rescue me! that I may declare your praise
The nations dig their own graves.

The LORD is known for justice, the wicked entrap themselves
Wicked nations will perish
But The needy or afflicted will not be forgotten.

Arise O LORD - let the nations know they are but men.


(A lovely psalm, reminding us of God's justice and mercy)

Mike's Day 8: Be gracious to me ... for I am languishing

Summary: The Psalmist is waiting for God to show grace, to turn and deliver him from death and enemies (v.7). He is weary from crying and moaning. Finally, a declaration of victory as the LORD hears the Psalmist, and his enemies are put to shame.

Again, like Ps. 2, 3, 4, 5, in Pslam 6 there is a distinct narrative (could I say dramatic?) structure. The Psalmist is in some strife, asks for God to intervene (often against some form of enemy), and finally... God does! It would be interesting to compare the narrative of these songs to the dramatic structure of other songs, even modern pop songs.

In this Psalm again we have statement of the problem, and the problem in this case is: "Where is God?". There is also an acknowledgement that God is not passive in the face of evil (Ps. 5: 4-6), and the Psalmist seems to be aware that God's absence in this case may be a form of rebuke or discipline.

A take home might be: say it like it is. State your state before God. If you are 'languishing', 'shaking with terror' then this is the right Psalm for you.

Remind him of his steadfast love (actually, remind yourself of this). Finally, realise that God 'accepts' your 'prayer'.

Psalms of course are prayer. But they are also a state of being, a way of being before God.

Psalms set the music, the mood for the relationship between Israel and YHWH, or the LORD and his anointed, and the music often is raw and passionate cries for deliverance accompanied by the realisation that in the end God will deliver.

In the Psalmist coming to God with a frank mindset, we are reminded of the God who turns, delivers, hears and accepts for the sake of his steadfast love (v.4,9).

Mike's Day 6: Psalm 5

The Psalmist asks God to consider his sighing, his cries for help, which he
brings before God on a daily basis. God does not take pleasure in evil, and
abbhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful. In contrast, the Psalmist's way will be
made straight as he worships God at the temple. He reminds God that the
wicket cannot be trusted and asks God to banish them for their rebellion.
Finally he asks God's blessing on the righteous.

This is one of the dualisms in the book of Psalms: the difference between the wicked and the righteous.

The wicked are right royal schemers, manipulators, liars etc., who create intrigues in which others fall like an 'open grave'. On the other hand, the righteous (or 'the godly' Psalm 4) are not only those who do the opposite of lie, take pleasure in evil, but, primarily, take refuge in God.

So, the difference is not only moral, it is theological, that is, it relates to the character of God - Psalms is defining God as the god who hates evil and loves righteousness, and a key feature of evil is that is that it is 'rebellion' against God.

I should add, there is not a hint of smug self-satisfaction. Instead, the approach of the Psalmist is one of reverence and humility in coming to God for salvation. Jesus would have known such Psalms well.

Like Ps. 4, Ps. 5 has an opening call or invitation/request to God, and ends with a declaration of his protection and the vindication of the righteous: "For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with favour as with a shield."

Mike's Day 4: Let the light of your face shine upon us

I am in distress!
Show mercy!
Relief! Please!

How long will you people
make Things
only things for heavens' sake
that aren't god,
into God.

Instead
Search Silently.
Offer right sacrifices.
Come Simply.

It's all you can do.

You may
not get yet
you will have.

So Simply Come.

They ask:
"Who can show us any good?"

I answer: You alone.

Mike's Day 3: "You are a shield around me, Oh LORD"

Psalm 3: David is crying out to YHWH. In the face of all his enemies who are out to get him, he asks for and reaffirms the fact that from the LORD comes deliverance.

Here, I think, we have a common characteristic of the Psalms: an 'I' Psalm. Compared to the 'man' of Psalms 1 and the 'nations' of Psalm 2, this is the Psalm of an individual to his God in the face of what he percieves to be insurmountable opposition.

Yet in the midst of this he is able to declare that God will deliver him. From this comes his sustenance, the ability to lift up his head.

Gosh don't we sometimes feel like we are over our heads, and need to read Psalms like this every second of every day?

No, I am not surrounded by 10,000 drawn up against me on every side, but sometimes facing the tasks of the day, whatever they may be, can feel like a challenge of these proportions; and in reading this Psalm we are reminded of the source of our courage: God - Shield, Sustainer, Deliverer.

We follow a God who delivers: and that goes for whoever you are, whereever you are whatever you have done, as Chrissy read today in Romans 3.

Mike's Day 2: “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill ...”

Psalm 2: a prayer of defiance. Though the nations conspire against the LORD (thus against Israel), the Anointed-King, the one LORD names as his own Son and rules from Zion (Jerusalem), will rule with an 'iron sceptre'; therefore those plotting kings should 'be wise', 'be warned', 'Serve the LORD with fear','rejoice with trembling' and ultimately 'Kiss the Son' in order to stave off his anger.

This is a bit of an angry one. It is a Psalm about the Messiah (Anointed One), probably David, chosen by God to both rule his people and defeat the enemies of the people of God. One of the functions of the Messiah was to defeat the enemies of Israel, thereby bringing salvation. The Messiah's victory would be God's victory, and perhaps the high point of David's reign is captured in the millitary victories of 2 Samuel 8 & 9 (before the Bathsheba incident) and preceded by God's message to David through Nathan (2 Sam 7), which reads:

"I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be distrubed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies."

Psalm 2 recalls this 'promise', if you like. Note that it is against the nations that rage and conspire against Israel, not against the nations per se. The function God had for Israel was twofold, to defeat evil, and be the the source of blessing for the nations.

This Psalm had special meaning for the early church: read Acts 4:23-31. It is attributed directly to their 'father' David, who spoke the words of God by the Holy Spirit (v.25). The peoples are all those who conspired against Jesus, whom God anointed (v.27). The Psalm of salvation for Israel has then been fulfilled in Jesus; the successor mentioned by Nathan in 2 Sam vs. 12 is Jesus.

'Blessed are all who take refuge in him.'

Mike's Day 1: Psalm 1

The psalmist describes a blessed man and the wicked. The blessed man 'delights in the law of the LORD' upon which he meditates day and night, prospering, producing fruit in season. This is unlike the wicked who are 'like chaff that the wind blows away'.

So for this season of Lent I will read, and talk about, the Psalms, Psalms 1-46. I love the Psalms, but, I think, they are deceptively simple. The Psalms is a songbook, however the focus for this one is on the words, not on the tune. Compare this to contemporary worship songs, which probably focus on the melody more than words (I could be wrong, but I doubt will we carrying around collections of modern worship lyrics in a thousand years time). Plus, the words are all we have: you could set the Psalms to music, and there are helpful headings if only we understood e.g. Psalm 6 – 'according to sheminith'.

Anyway, back to Psalm 1. We begin with contrasting approaches to living in relation to God: the 'way of the righteous' and 'the way of the wicked' (v.6). The Psalm might be a poetic summary of Deuteronomy 28, calling Israel to remember the Blessings of Obedience and Curses for Disobedience, and reaffirm their commitment to walk in the way of Blessing. Meditate upon the Law, so that you are enabled to fully obey and carefully follow God's commands, and you will be counted among the righteous, and experience the Blessings of the Covenant. Conversely, ignore this (and get carried away with mockers etc.) and you will experience the Curses in Deut 28.

In Matthew 5 Jesus says something fairly similar with the wise and foolish builders, re-focused this time around himself and his teaching. This might be the Christian lens for reading Psalm 1. It is highly unlikely the Pslamist is advocating a simple minded 'meditation'/'hearing the word' which does not result in some kind of life-response, as Chrissy touched on this in terms of 'hearing the word' in her Day 1 Blog, though surely there is an argument to be made for the influence of thought patterns, vis-a-vie meditation, on state of mind and consequent behaviour.

'Refreshment' is another word that springs to mind re: Psalm 1 'like a tree planted by streams of water'. The kind of ever-green person Psalm 1 describes certainly is worth aspiring to become, someone who can weather the storms of life when (not if) they come and produce fruit in season.

Mike.