PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

We are halfway through.  Hard to believe that it was 75 days ago that we started this challenge on Sunday, January 1.  I want to focus on vs. 7 which reminds us that it is God who puts one down and lifts up another.  Judgment comes from the Lord.  But then look at vs.10 where it seems that the author is going to take matters into his own hands.  “I will cut off the horns off the wicked.”  Not the Lord will do it, but the author himself will do it.  

Let’s talk about what exactly the author means when he talks about horns.  It has to mean the source of power.  You see Samuel in I Samuel 16:13 who takes the “horn” of oil to anoint David as king.  The horn contained that which symbolically made David king.  The horn was also the source of power for the ram, which was caught in the thicket when Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac.  So the horn would be the root and the source of power.  That which could hurt the most and that which was given by the Lord to give us blessings and power.  

It is probably better to allow the Lord to cut off those horns and leave the living within God’s parameters to us.  

This Psalm, like the past one and all the ones now through 83, are in the context of Asaph.  But it is clear from this Psalm that the author is bemoaning the fall of the Temple.  The first time that the temple fell was in 587 and I wonder if somehow this psalm made it in the Psalter to reflect the agony and the pain of that experience.  The details which are depicted make me think that it had to have been written by someone who was an eyewitness.  Listen to the words that are used: smoke, emblems set up in the holy place, wooden trellis’ hacked with axes, all the carved work smashed with hatchets and hammers, the temple is lit up with fire.

In my mind this is no doubt an eyewitness account of the destruction of the temple which would have remained emblazoned upon the minds and the history of the Israelites as the attack on Pearl Harbor and 9-11 is emblazoned upon the minds of our nation and the Holocaust on the minds of the nation of Israel.  As a response to this attack the author comments that there is no one who is able to speak a prophetic word as to how long the Lord will allow this to last (vs.9).

You see a transition in vs.12 where the author remembers the salvation of the Lord who is King.  He remembers His Lordship and how He rules over all things including creation and the nations.  We need to be reminded of this when we find ourselves in situations where it seems like things are spinning out of control.  I find it interesting that the author refers back to the covenant that God has made with the people as a reminder of what is at stake.  This is the same covenant that we see the people of Israel breaking time after time.  It wouldn’t seem to me that God needs to be reminded of that covenant as much as we do.

Let’s start by trying to identify Asaph.  You would have found his name in Psalm 50 but we didn’t mention it at all.  Today we have to mention it because starting in this psalm all the way to Psalm 83 we hear him mentioned in each of the preludes.  As in most cases there are a number of different theories as to who exactly Asaph is.  I’m going with the theory that Asaph is the one mentioned in I Chronicles 6:39 who was considered one of the main singers in David’s temple.  He was also credited with performing in the dedication of the temple by Solomon in II Chronicles 5:12 (I’m so glad I proofread this.  I had put “performed in Solomon’s wedding”.  That would not have been accurate).  Let’s see, the book of psalms is a book of songs and this man, Asaph, is a singer/songwriter.  I like that, it almost seems like it makes sense.  I’m going with that theory.  David would have known him and he would have been one of the leading singers and songwriters of his time.  Asaph would have been to harp music what the Beatles were to rock and roll.  

Now to the body of the psalm.  Look at vs.1 and there is a bit of a choice that we have to make in regards to that verse.  Instead of reading “God is good to the upright” the Hebrew translation could also mean: “God is good to Israel”.  That makes a little more sense especially when he follows it with: “to those who are pure in heart.”  Of course the psalmist is going to see the people of Israel as the pure in heart, as the ones chosen by the Almighty to be the bloodline of the messiah and the chosen one.

Throughout the psalm he points out the negative attributes of his enemies and how God encourages those things which will bring ruin in their lives.  He speaks very little about how God is a positive influence in his life, but mostly how God manipulates things in such a way that he “makes them fall to ruin.”  Hmm, we have seen this before.  But he snaps out of it and in vs.28 he praises God, actually praises himself that he has made God his refuge in order to tell others of God’s wonderful works.  

This is a classic royal psalm.  A royal psalm is geared to praise and adoration for the king.  It is one where the king is uplifted and his protection and prowess is praised and prayers are offered for his prosperity and safety.  Did you notice the prologue to the psalm?  It is called: Of Solomon.  So, this is not categorized as a psalm which David wrote, but rather it seems more like a psalm which is written for Solomon, the son of David who actually constructed the temple.  This psalm is written for the person who is in power over the nation of Israel.  Read through it again.  Then put it in this perspective.  This psalm is written for the person who is ruling over the United States.  Does that change anything?  I think it should.  Let’s highlight some of the attributes that the President of the United States should have.  We are not getting political, this is written specifically for the person who is ruling the country in which we live.  If we lived in Italy it would be for the Prime Minister etc.   As we see that elections are taking place all over Europe we need to remember that this psalm points out to who one should vote for in Holland, and in France and in any country which elects its leaders.  

I hope you know what I’m going to point out…  Look at vss.1-2, 4, 12-14.  What is the theme, and I would argue the primary responsibility, of the king?  What is the purpose of the government as a whole if we take this psalm at face value and use it to construct a government of which God would be proud.  Its primary responsibility is to rule in righteousness, look to the poor with justice (ie in a positive light), defend the cause of the poor, deliver the needy, deliver the needy (yes, I know that I repeated that), the poor, those who have no helper, has pity upon the weak and needy, saves the lives of the needy, redeems their life from oppression.  In the end, look at vs. 14, the most needy are precious in the sight of the government, in the sight of the king, in the sight of whoever is ruling the land.  That is the way God wants it to be according to this psalm.  I’m going to agree with that.

I’m not sure we have seen a Psalm which is as celebratory as this one when it comes to giving thanks to God in the most unchained way possible.  We will see something similar in Psalm 150 which for me is the uber praise psalm, but this psalm encourages us to praise God with the harp, the lyre, with our voices.  There is also shouting for joy which is to take place.  I know all of the preceding verses in this psalm deal with a request for protection because of all the evil ones who continue to surround and harass this “poor” author.  Okay, it is at this point that maybe we have heard enough laments so it is so incredibly refreshing that we hear him go absolutely ballistic, in a good way, about the love of the Lord.  

So, many of you know that for me March is the happiest time of the year.  I know that we are in Lent, but maybe, just maybe, that is some contributing factor to why I dive so deeply into March Madness.  Please find attached a bracket.  If you want to be a part of our yearly March Madness here at First Presbyterian fill it out and either put it in my box at church or email me a scanned copy.  It is not for the thin skinned, I tend to be somewhat competitive and I will give “feedback” throughout the tourney to all those who have participated.  I hope you will.

ncaam_bracket 2017

A short psalm in the midst of the very long  psalms which surround it.  It is a psalm which is divided into two parts.  The first part, vs.1-3, is a cry for deliverance because the enemies have surrounded the author and the end seems to be close at hand.  The transition in vs.4 until the end is so quick that it almost gives one whiplash.  There must have been a victory or something significant which happened in the life of the author to cause him to go from “deliver me” to “God is great”.  

The declaration that “I am poor” has to be looked at in a bit of a different light.  If the psalmist is King David, as the prologue would lend one to believe, then you would think that his poverty is slightly exaggerated.  Maybe he meant poor in a spiritual way so a cry for deliverance was more of a call for salvation of both his soul and life.  Remember in our Gospels Jesus teaches on the sermon on the mount two passages which are interpreted in vastly different ways.  We find in Luke 6:20 that Jesus says blessed are the poor, period.  He leaves it at that.  Matthew 5:3 adds the word spirit so it read: blessed are the poor in spirit.  

As I have mentioned before I know that Jesus has a special place in His heart for the poor since they are mentioned so frequently in Scripture as almost having special protection and special favor from God.  So I guess I take a bit of exception to King David calling himself poor. 

This is a classic psalm of lament.  From beginning to near the end the Psalmist is calling out to the Lord because he is in over his head in trouble and imminent danger.  The transition takes place starting in vs. 30 and then in vs.33 we find that “the Lord hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds.”  The assumption is that the writer would fill both of those categories as being needy and belonging to the Lord.

So much of this psalm is the author stating that he did what was right and what was expected of him and yet people still mocked and made fun of him.  He fasted and they insulted him (vs.10).  We find vs.9 as a verse which is repeated when Jesus drives out the money changers from the temple in John 2:17.  Being consumed with zeal for the house of the Lord is a good thing, even if it does lead to some social separation.  Doing what is right is no guarantee that we will have favor on this earth.  It is a common misconception that as we become followers of Jesus Christ then our lives become a bit more routine and able to be managed.  I would actually argue quite the opposite.  The more we belong to Christ, the less steady we are on this earth.  That is also a good thing.  

This has to be the most difficult Psalm in the entire book of Psalms.  The approach of the author is one where God is lifted up as one who defends the people, but then takes that next step of bringing the enemies before the reader “so that you may bathe you feet in blood, so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.”  And who said that we worship a God of peace and Islam is based upon violence and bloodshed?  They must not have seen these verses in the Bible.  I would guess that we are able to find very unsettling verses in the Bible which speak to destroying the enemy with bloodshed which closely mirrors the verses from the Koran that point to death to the infidels.  Isn’t it something how religion sparks the worst in us?  

I guess this is one of those psalms that I would like to quickly pass over.  But let me lift up those parts that make me smile and give me strength for the day.  As we read in vs.4 we see that we are to lift up the name of God.  The main reason for that, as we read in vs.5 is that he is the Father of orphans and widows.  He gives the desolate a home to live in and leads out the prisoners to prosperity.  It does remind me of Jesus’ words in the synagogue which got him kicked out of this home town.  Read Luke 4:14-30.  It is quite an intense discourse and it ends with an attempt at violence and bloodshed but it is thwarted.  But Jesus refers in the synagogue to a Scripture which comes from Isaiah.  When you read Isaiah 61:1 it gives similar wording to the author.  

These three Scriptures, and many others, form the foundation for what I consider my ministry.  It is our responsibility, even if it is at a cost to ourselves, to care for the most vulnerable within our society.  That doesn’t seem to be our approach these days.  It surprises people to think that Jesus put the poor, the widow and orphan, the homeless and the prisoner, ahead of our own self-interest.  Why would we do that if it endangers us?  Because we are called to do it.  This has to be the sign of our Christian faith, and not the dangling of our feet in the blood of our enemies, or in the blood of the less fortunate regardless of how they became less fortunate.

So before you think too much about this Psalm I want you to read Numbers 6:22-27.  Do you see what is happening in this Psalm?  It is a time in the life of the psalmist that frankly things are going well.  This priestly blessing of Numbers 6:22-27, which I believe we commented on earlier and Elliott Smith said his mom gave that blessing after each of her services, is a blessing which was given by Aaron to all of the Israelites so that they would know that they were chosen and picked out individually by God.  It is a way in which God put His name upon the Israelites, it is the way that God has put His blessing on us as well.

When we turn to Psalm 67 we find these same words within the context of: If God blesses us then we will be able to be a blessing to all of the nations as well.  We see this same concept in Isaiah 49:6 where the prophet tells the people of Israel that they are to be a light to the nations (gentiles) so that they, even they, would come to a saving knowledge of the Lord.  

In the Old Testament another word for nations would be “goyim” which can also be translated as gentiles.  This is very much of an evangelistic psalm.  The Psalmist is not just content with the people of Israel knowing and love YHWH, but he understands the goal is that all the nations, including the nations worshipping idols and foreign gods, would come to know the living Creator God.  The desire is that all the ends of the earth would love Him.  All the ends of the earth, all of the countries, even those who did not worship the same God as the Israelites.  Wow, now that is an expansive faith.  

Hey, unrelated, but the 24 hour prayer vigil sign up sheet is up on the door of the my office.  Sign up!

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.”  You have heard this before, and now you know from whence it came.   The glory and the majesty of the Lord are highlighted in this psalm.  But there are particular events in history to which the author points to lift up the rule of God.  Look at vs.6 and to which historical event do you think he is referring?  Most of us would say Exodus 14:21-29, or if you wanted a Hollywood reference you may have had this in mind:

But I think the historical reference may have actually been Joshua 3:14-17 when Israel crossed the Jordan with the ark of the covenant.  This was crucial in David’s day because he was the one who had the vision to build the temple even if his son, Solomon, would be the one who ended up building it.  In either case we have here David referring to specific historical events in the nation of Israel that have taken place which all of the people would know.  As a result, they could all say: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.  In saying that, they would have in their minds specific occurrences which would bring about joy and thanksgiving.