Preliminary reflections on the Psalms.

Everytime I sit down at my blog I feel a twinge to write something about my view of the psalms... frustratingly however I still feel hugely unprepared to do so. The emotional spectrum paletted throughout the grace+spirit-meeting-humanity+dependency sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and touches of the psalter is universally unique. So unique in fact that it not only gives us an inspired song book, but also a reflection on how we are to live and breathe our very lives in full open-handed worship. The psalter is where we learn the majesty of lament, the legitimacy of the metaphor, the power of Spirit-warfare, the soul-longing for justice, the presence of God in His songs, and the place and power of full,powerful,artistic expression in Worship. The psalms are a river of doctrine flowing as doctrine should out of and through and towards a heart of praise. Sing the psalms, chant them, breathe them out, memorise them, read them again and again, love them, pray them, need them, search through them, ... reflect them.
These are obvious random expressions of my thoughts...but the papers met the pen now, I've committed myself, so watch this space.

t.

Jephthah’s Tragic Vow (Based on Judges 11:29-40)

Oh LORD, little did I know when I made my vow, the tragedy that would befall my heart. Little did I know when I exclaimed in my piety that death would be the reward, death from my family. My heart burns, my mind has turned, anguish grips me like a mother her new born babe; like a sparrow the meat it craves. As a babe is plucked from the breast, and a sparrow taken from its rest, so now, my child, my life, torn from me. Little did I know when I made my vow.

It has been six weeks since my little girl arrived home. Six weeks since she tumbled through my door; hop, skip, jump, buoyant smile upon her face. My child, my only child. Radiant joy upon her face, lights within her eyes unlike anything this world has seen. She opened my world and rested my mind in the contentness of this galaxy, the momentum of time and space, of truth and peace. Mine. My own little girl. My only child.

Six weeks since my little girl appeared at my door; light in her eyes as always, two blinking cherishing reflective lights only for me. Its daddy! ‘Daddy, I’m home, I’m come. Daddy take me in your arms and hold me, Daddy. Daddy? Why do you stand there still? Why, you look so frail, Daddy, what’s wrong Daddy; aren’t you glad to see me daddy? Don’t taunt me Daddy, don’t forsake me Daddy, I’m home. I’m your little girl.’

So brave my little girl, so true, so open; so penetrable her gaze. Her eyes like daggers tore right through me. Her dance ceased, the tambourine died. ‘Speak to me daddy.’ I broke. ‘Oh my daughter, my little girl, see what famine you have bought upon my heart! See what fulfilment you have bought to my vow, oh death and pain and tearing loss! But I cannot shun my LORD, I cannot pronounce judgement upon Him. What can I do? My only child.’

So brave my little girl. ‘Daddy. Father. You must do as you vowed to do. You must pour this wrath upon my soul, I am a big girl. I am your only begotten child. I am. But give me leave Daddy, let me walk and wail, for I am untouched, unknown. I am as one barren, cursed by God and afflicted. Let me mourn, two months. I will return. I must return. I am your little girl. I am your only child. And little did you know when you made your vow.’ Six weeks now since my little girl arrived home.

Six weeks since she left, and she is to return in two. Little did I know when I made my vow that the LORD would take my little girl? Little did I know when the last Ammonite fell that I would be left alone. Oh LORD, my only child. My brave, willing, little girl. That she should prepare herself for sacrifice, so willingly, so brave my little girl. That I, that Daddy must give the last blow, see the last sparkle fade from her eyes, I wonder if it’s there now?

Daddy should not have to outlive his own child. Daddy must keep His vow, from it deliverance has come, from it we are saved, from it have we inherited. I must appease. But my only little girl, so much harder is her willingness. Her piety. Her trust for Daddy. My brave little girl. She opened my world and rested my mind in the contentness of this galaxy, the momentum of time and space, of truth and peace. Mine. My own little girl. My only child.

Oh LORD, little did I know when I made my vow, the tragedy that would befall my heart. Little did I know when I exclaimed in my piety that death would be the reward, death from my family. My heart burns, my mind has turned, anguish grips me like a mother her new born babe; like a sparrow the meat it craves. As a babe is plucked from the breast, and a sparrow taken from its rest, so now, my child, my life, torn from me. Little did I know when I made my vow.

Some Possible Psalm Christology

How are the Psalms fulfilled in Christ?

Directive predictive prophecy – or indirect typological prefiguring
- Psalms cannot be fully applied/fulfilled/interpreted without Christ
- Could be for an Israelic King, yet a foreshadowing of Christ

Forward looking prophecy – or – backward looking analogy/application
- Could have fulfilment and application for Israelic King, yet unfulfilled potential for Christ
- Not unfulfilled potential, but used in NT as analogy, particularly in reference to His human experience

Meaning plain and intended by human author – or – deeper meaning not intended by human author
- There is nothing in NT interpretation that the OT author would not have affirmed
- Sensus Plenior

(Sensus Plenior – deeper meaning meant by God, but not known to the human author.)

A Simple Narrative Structure of 1 and 2 Chronicles

• 1Chron.1-9:34 – Collection of genealogies from Adam to returned exiles.
• 1Chron.9:35-29 – The reign of King David.
• 2Chron..1-9 – The reign of King Solomon.
• 2Chron.10-36 – Destruction of Northern Kingdom and restoration under Cyrus.

Don't Kill the LORD's Anointed. (Revised)

There are two scenarios in 1 Samuel 24 and 26 where it seems Saul has been given into David’s hands, yet David has chosen to spare Saul’s life.


We note particularly three groups of people; David, David’s men, and Saul.

> Saul is officially God’s anointed, and we see him verbally confess his sin and ‘repent’ at the close of both chapters, and yet we also see him continuing in his sin in trying to kill David. He is convicted, believes, confesses, and yet does not respond appropriately to the LORD.

>David’s men we see, take the LORD’s promise of delivering Saul into David’s hands and ‘run with it’ so to speak. They believe the message, respond to it by assisting David obediently, show trust in it by exclaiming the promise, ‘look this is the LORD fulfilling his promise to you!’ Yet there is something missing, they are not sensitive to how they should respond appropriately, they take the promise, the conclusion, and seek to fulfil it their own way.

> Finally David, he believes the promises given to him from the LORD, pursues the ends of these promises, and sensitively obeys the LORD’s instruction. He seeks the fulfilment of the LORD’s promise in step with the LORD’s character. Saul is the LORD’s anointed one, the one the LORD has chosen, and killing him is standing against the one the LORD has raised up, therefore standing against the LORD. David will not kill the LORD’s anointed.


Take an typological journey with me. Jesus is the fulfilment of David, he is the ‘new’ David in a sense. Jesus appropriately and sensitively responds to and obeys God’s word. Even if that involved Him walking to the cross, as it involved David’s persecution from Saul.
David’s followers may be linked to Jesus’ followers, particularly his close disciples; those who believed the message, yet often ran with it, not understanding the greater things of God.
Saul could be most obviously Judas, the one who hears and responds, yet betrays Jesus to His death, and inevitably his own death. Yet perhaps he could be linked to any who hear, believe, repent, and yet are easily choked by the thorns, those who do not respond by changing their lives.
Of course, Jesus can also be linked to Saul in a monarchical form, he is the King of the new Israel, the spiritual Israel. Jesus is God’s anointed one, the one on whom the spirit descends as a dove. The one when appropriately recognised, should not be killed. Do not kill the LORD’s anointed.


This is of course where those at the sentencing of Jesus went fatally wrong, they did not appropriately acknowledge who he was. They had heard who He claimed to be, they had seen the proof in His teaching and in His miracles, yet, they did not respond appropriately, they killed the Lord’s anointed. Whereas David, would not.


So how can we apply this, where can we place ourselves? We can, and often do, place ourselves with Saul, unwilling to act upon what we have seen, to truly live out our repentance, and inevitably in Saul’s role, this leads eventually to two things; first a desire to kill the Lord’s plan. Saul saw and acknowledged David’s fame and relationship with the LORD, he wanted to kill him. We, following Saul would want to foolishly kill the means of God’s plan being vindicated.
Second, an inevitable desire to be self-destructive. Sin is self-destructive, suicidal, not acting upon repentance and not responding appropriately to God’s revealed nature in grace has only one other possible option, walking blindly away from it and towards an Idol, which will destroy us. We see the fulfilment of this in 1 Chronicles 10-11.
Following Saul’s example therefore, will lead us eventually to a violent end. It gives only to killing, either a killing of God’s plan, which cannot be done, or a killing of oneself. Let’s not follow Saul in his killing. Note, this does not mean we are saved/sustained by works, but the effectual working of grace in our lives involves the relational dynamic of daily responding to the gospel.

We also can easily stand with David’s men, or the Disciples of Christ. So often we can take a promise, or piece of scripture and run with it, instead of contextually and sensitively applying it with humility and wisdom. This can lead to a trust in our own ability other than a humble dependence on the King. This leads to dishonouring our King; take the Disciples, one betrayed, one denied, ten deserted, yet eleven restored by God’s grace!
Let us humbly observe and digest the scriptures, considering ourselves more likely to misunderstand, and misapply, being wonderfully thankful to God’s grace when he gifts us with an understanding that changes our lives.

We most difficultly, yet inevitably must stand with David, with Christ. We are pursuing to be Christlike, to be like Him in all and everything we do, to mirror His glory and seek to be satisfied in Him alone. We must therefore in these two Chapters, seek to believe and respond like David, and how does David do that? He does that by not killing the LORD’s anointed. So we too must not, like the 1st Centaury Jews and Romans, kill the Lord’s anointed. We must not seek to kill Jesus. We must therefore flee idols (see Saul above), and flee anything that leads us away from a living repentance, and adversely seek and long to see Jesus living in our lives and the lives of others.


We must take delight in the Living Jesus, the Lord’s anointed, we must not foolishly seek to kill the Lord’s anointed, but seek to make much of His living. Wake up in the morning, longing to want the Living Jesus to be vindicated as alive to the world. We must want to be alive, in Him. We must want to be like Jesus, and seek Him in the scriptures daily, pouring through them to find His nail marks, breathing them in constantly to seek his thorny crown. We must pour out from them, responding, confessing, and obeying Him by seeking to mirror Him, to magnify Him, to glorify Him. We must foremost acknowledge our position daily to Him and ask for His grace to live totally to Him glory.


Let us not seek to kill the Lord’s anointed, but long for the Living Jesus to be magnified in our lives.

A Meditation on Psalm 36

n.b. Translation form the English Standard Version of the Bible

Psalm 36
TO THE CHOIRMASTER. OF DAVID, THE SERVANT
OF THE LORD.

1. Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
There is no fear of God
before his eyes.
2. For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out
and hated.
3. The words of his mouth are trouble and
deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do
do good.
4. He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil.

5. Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to
the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6. Your righteousness is like the mountains
of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.

7. How precious is your steadfast love,
O God!
The children of mankind take refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
8. They feast on the abundance of your
house.
and you give them drink from the
river of your delights.
9. For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.

10. Oh continue your steadfast love to
those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
11. Let not the foot of arrogance come
upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12. There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.



What an incredible picture of our God and his faithfulness to his people. The beauty of such a Psalm is that it vividly tells us the Gospel message from creation, fall, redemption and eternity. The Psalmist paints us a vivid contrast between the extent of human sin, our sin and the extent of the grace of the LORD God. The object of this Psalm is Jesus Christ, his mercy towards undeserved sinners and the abundance of his grace to his people.

I have broken the Psalm up into three parts, first, vv1-4, then vv5-9 and finally vv10-12.


> We start therefore, at vv1-4, the way of the wicked or way of the sinner.

vv1-2 tell us particularly of their evil attitudes. The sinner does have a 'lord', and it's sin. The wicked have a 'god', and its transgression.

v1 - Sin whispers into the depths of their hearts, it literally in the Hebrew 'gives them oracles' much like the voice of God would a prophet, sin is therefore personified here as the wickeds authority. Sin is the one which rules, governs and tests every action of the wicked, to drive it away from the true way of the LORD, their every action is therefore rebellion against the LORD.
The wickeds God is certainly not the LORD God that David, his servant (see title) worships; they have no fear of the true God before their eyes, they don't set their paths towards him but towards their own authority, towards their sin, which is at direct odds with the way of the LORD.

v2 - The wicked flatter themselves, their eyes look only inward, not outward towards the true and living LORD God.
They refuse to acknowledge God and they are therefore not led towards repentance.

Their sin, in the depths of their heart, they foolishly think, will not be found out.

If vv1-2 tell us of the attitudes of the wicked towards themselves and towards God, then vv2-4 tells us of their social activities and how their sinful attitudes affect their bodily outworkings.

v3 - They speak naught but lies and deceit, their very words are unrighteous. They cease to act wisely and they cease to do good. In fact they spend their time fleeing from doing good, thinking up evils and mischief to keep them set in no good way.
The sin, in the depths of their heart leads to an outflow of their whole being, which is corrupt in their thoughts (v4a), their will (v4b), and their feeling (v4c).

So what will happen to these people? If we turn to Psalm 1 (which is important for the context of any Psalm). Psalm 1:4 tells us that they are like chaff, blown by the wind, v5 they will not be able to stand in the judgment and v6 the wicked - shall - perish. And if we turn back to Psalm 36 and v12, David, the psalmer, tells us again that they will not be able to stand, they lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

It isn't looking too good for the wicked is it?

So who exactly are the wicked? Are they just some rare or foreign peoples who appear to be exceptionally evil, are they the darth vader figures in an otherwise good and obedient world?

Well Romans 3:10-12 says
"None is righteous, no, not one;
mo one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they
have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one."

The wicked shown here in this Psalm is - the natural state of man. Here in vv1-4 is the universal curse of sin from Genesis 3. All men have these characteristics, whether latent or developed. This is us, in our natural state, cut off from God, held in his hand over the pits of hell, we too should perish.

This pride sobering thought should humble us to reflect on the reality of the human heart, looking back over vv1-4 we can identify these areas in our own lives. The first part of this Psalm teaches us of our deprived state, void of the knowledge and grace of God, our only source of Salvation.



> In vv5-9, we see the most incredible contrast from, the way of the wicked to the person of the LORD God.

The LORD God is massive, his traits and characteristics are immense, his love reaches the heavens (v5a), his faithfulness to the clouds (v5b). His righteousness is compared to the mountains (v6a), and his justice is like the great deep (v6b).

God - is - a - big - God!

We'd be forgiven here for thinking that God is so huge and that God is to totally, utterly completely transcendent, that he is also completely unknowable and knowledge of him, totally unobtainable, far out of reach of restricted and cramped sinful man.
But the Psalm tells us that this enormous God is also intimate, he saves man and beast, mortal flesh take their shelter in him (v7). and there, they will feast with him (v8).

God's love reaches to the heavens (v5), so is utterly ungraspable, yet it is also something so precious (v7), something to grasp and not let slip.

At the end of v7, we see the LORD God sheltering mortal flesh under the shadow of his wings, wonderful reminders here of Jesus in the gospels, longing to gather man like a hen gathers he chicks under her wings. Here God shelters those he has saved from those who are not, who still are Gods enermies from vv1-4.

This is the absolutely unmatchable, immeasurable, Grace of God, by which we, sinners as shown in vv1-4, deserving of the unquenchable fires of Hell, are saved by. This is the grace that sent Jesus Christ to die on a cross our eternal, spotless, atoning substitute. This is the immensity of our God, who is the Lord of the entire universe and yet he still wants to be individually involved in our lives. This is the God that when we were still sinners as shown in vv1-4, the LORD God, shown in vv5-9 has saved us, not by any goodness of our own, but out of the eternal, abundant, covenant love that He has for His people. Praise God for his faithfulness and his mercy.



> David finishes his psalm this way: he is torn between the immensity of sin and the immensity of grace, fully aware of his natural state and the nature of God, he turns to urgent prayer.

v10 - 'Oh continue your loving kindness' - not 'deliver me from these present evils', but continue showing your grace to your people.
v11 - 'Continue to keep me form my destructive, human nature,' shown here in pride, aware of where that would leave him.
v12 shows us the faithfulness in David's prayer, as if he already knows what Gods response to be. David prays in the faith of what the writer to the Hebrews calls the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Let us now, turn in prayer, believing faithfully, like David in God's response and promises.

'Oh Father, to be more like your Son

the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise you for his

unswerving obedience to you

even to death.

Praise you that when we were still sinners,

you saved us.

When we were far off,

you met us.

When we like Lazareth, dead in a tomb,

you cried "come out"

and brought us from death to life.

Help us live in the light and conviction

of the abdolute supremacy and

Lordship of your Son, help us to be

satisfied in him alone and

keep us, in your love, on paths of righteousness,

for your names sake,

until we arrive home or meet you

in the air.

In Jesus' Glorious and Holy name.

Amen.