Psalm 70: Dialing 911

On many mornings I enjoy having a somewhat extended (for me, anyway) time of reading the Bible. A cup of coffee, solitude, and the Scripture is a great way to start my day. But, sometimes life intrudes, cutting short or eliminating this favorite habit. Whether it’s my own lack of discipline to get up early or some emergency requiring my attention, sometimes there isn’t opportunity for that quiet time of reading, prayer, and meditation.

Or maybe in the course of the day I am suddenly faced with a serious crisis needing immediate action in which there is no time to prepare, only to react. Whether it’s the former situation or the latter, sometimes all I’m able to do is send up a flare: “God, help!”

The warrior-king David had his share of times like that, too. I know he did because he wrote about them in Psalm 70. In five short verses, his prayer begins and ends with a plea: Lord, please hurry and help me! David provides reasons why he needs a 911 immediate response from God: there are enemies trying to kill him, people trying to hurt him, and some who are rejoicing in his troubles, seeking to humiliate him.

In David’s snapshot prayer, he asks that his tormentors be turned back and dishonored, and he prays that those who seek God would rejoice with gladness, and that God would be glorified by his people. His emergency request ends with a humble confession that he needs God’s deliverance, and he needs it now.

Commentators note that Psalm 40:13-17 constitutes an almost word-for-word repetition of Psalm 70, and that Psalm 71 is also very closely related to Psalm 70. Both Psalm 40 and Psalm 71 are longer than the brief cry for help that composes the short, emergency telegram of Psalm 70.

It’s a comforting lesson. In those crisis situations, when all there’s time for is “God, help!”, it’s enough: He hears and answers.

A Guide to Psalms for the Depressed

Some years ago I developed material for a seminar on depression. One of the useful handouts was this annotated guide to the Psalms for people wrestling with depression. Perhaps you might find it useful. Click here to open the PDF document.

Psalms studies snippet

One of the members of my church emailed me with a question, "Do you know how old David was when he wrote Psalm 23?"

Here is my answer, which might provide a few useful snippets of information to you as you read the psalms:

No. One of the more speculative parts of Psalm studies is attempting to discover what theologians call the sitz-im-leben, a term that means "situation in life."  These speculations have led to all sorts of fanciful ideas not anchored in Scripture. Occasionally we will get some help from the caption, or superscription. In our English bibles, the caption is the small type at the very beginning of the psalm, and it is usually not in italics. The superscription of Psalm 23 is "A Psalm of David." Not much help there locating the psalm in a situation. But take a look at Psalm 18 - it has an extended caption that provides some background, not only of the situation, but of how the psalm was to be used: "For the choir director."

The captions are actually in the original manuscripts, and they are part of verse one. For example, the Hebrew text of Psalm 90 has "A prayer of Moses, the man of God" as the opening words of the psalm.

Most conservative scholars believe there is a reason why the psalms are so hard to pin down to a specific life situation: it enables the reader to identify with and apply the psalm regardless of his situation.

Mine, all mine . . .

Psalm 39 is my psalm.

Sorry, bub; move along; you’re going to have to find your own psalm! Thirty-nine is mine!

Many of David’s psalms I don’t identify with so well. For example, I don’t have any real enemies; at least, I don’t think I do. So the “save me from all my enemies” psalms sort of zoom right past me. The penitential psalms I identify with completely. I’ve had ample opportunity to pray them. But the ones that complain about enemies, not so much.**

Except Psalm 39. You know who the enemy is in that psalm? David is his own enemy. He’s being chastened for sin: Remove your plague from me; because of the opposition of your hand I am perishing. With reproofs You chasten a man for iniquity; (vv 10-11a).

And he’s got his nose bent out of joint about it, so he’s afraid to speak in public: I said I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle while the wicked are in my presence (v 1).

Ever been in a really bad mood? You know they can read it on your face. And you know your attitude is sinful. And you don’t even want to open your mouth, because you know whatever comes out won’t be in keeping with Ephesians 4:29. Ever been there? Me? Seems like I make a visit there several times every day, at least.

Anyway, David did not want to dishonor God anymore than he already had by his sin (of which we know nothing). So he was keeping his mouth shut. But he knew what was going on: I have become mute, I do not open my mouth, because it is You who have done it (v 9). He knew that his troubles at that moment were from God's chastening rod.

So he’s biting his tongue. In fact, he’s not saying anything, good or bad: I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, and my sorrow grew worse (v 2).

Finally he’s had enough and gets by himself (I’m reading that into the psalm), and begins to pour out his complaint and seek his God: My heart was hot within me, while I was musing, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: Lord, make me to know my end and what is the extent of my days; let me know how transient I am (vv 3-4).

Are you your own worst enemy? The fact of the matter is, unless you have reached some exalted state of sanctification, you probably are. I know I am. Maybe I ought to speak for myself, though. I certainly don’t know your heart. Don’t even really know mine (Jeremiah 17:9). But this I do know: no low-down, lop-eared, son of a gun gives me as much grief as . . . I do.

Anyway, I like how this psalm runs its course. I can identify with that, too. David’s still struggling at the end of the psalm. He’s not wearing some syrupy sweet grin and a “Smile, Jesus loves you” pin. Instead, he’s still crying out, Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with you, a sojourner like all my fathers (v 12).

I can’t really identify with the sentimental “my dear Jesus, sweetest name I know” lingo. I know folks who talk like that and really think like that, and who really do mean it.

I’m just not there, not yet anyway. Terms like, sovereign Lord Jesus Christ, Lord God Almighty, Ancient of Days, and so on, speak far more to me than the personal intimacy stuff. And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the foolish (vv 7-8). Now, that’s my language.

Like I said, buddy: move over and find your own psalm. This one’s mine.

[**The main reason for this, I believe, is that Christ faced and defeated those enemies for me on the cross. Those psalms are largely (but not exclusively) Christocentric. I say not exclusively, because when we do find ourselves with actual enemies, we’ll find those psalms on our lips. I expect this is especially true of the persecuted Church. If I ever undergo such persecution, I’m sure that I, too, will identify more closely with those beautiful psalms.]

Hot Poker

Okay, we aren’t talking about a game of cards, gang.  [I bet I just lost half my audience!]

We’re talking about fireplace pokers, and how you turn a cold one into a hot one. So how do you? You start messing around in the fire with it. You put it next to burning logs. The hotter they burn, the hotter the poker gets.

Now, wasn’t that just an amazing piece of wisdom? Worth every penny you paid for it, wasn’t it? Step right up, folks, there’s plenty more where that came from!

Cynical self-deprecation aside, there is a point to this: hang around people with a passion for something, and it’s catching. This is what mentoring is all about: hanging around people who love Jesus more than you do, in the hopes that it will rub off. Just like the fire makes a cold poker hot.

So, if we take this hot poker motif just a little further we can ask this question: if my love for the Word of God is growing cold, how can I reverse the decline? How can I renew and refresh my love for God’s Word?

You might start by hanging around people who really love the Word. May I recommend someone in particular? Try the writer of Psalm 119. Psalm 119 is a paean, a song of praise for the Word of God. You want to love the Word more? Hang around Psalm 119.

According to Derek Kidner [Kidner, Psalms 73-150, 453-454], the psalmist uses 8 primary expressions in Psalm 119 to refer to the Scripture:

• Law
• Testimonies
• Precepts
• Statutes
• Commandments
• Ordinances (also translated ‘judgments’)
• Word
• Promise (sometimes translated ‘word’)

Less common but also used: ways, name (loving God’s name here is equivalent to loving what He has said), and faithfulness (in verse 90 faithfulness stands in a place in the colon that matches it with ‘word’ in its parallel colon in verse 89).

One or more of these expressions occur in 173 of the 176 verses of Psalm 119. Here’s my favorite sample: Psalm 119:97 (NASB) O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119 is a highly structured poem, being written in 22 eight-verse sections. It is an acrostic, meaning that the first word in each verse (in Hebrew) in each section begins with consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In other words, verses 1-8 all begin with aleph, verses 9-16 all begin with beth, 17-24 with gimel, and so on. Some have said that it expresses the psalmist's love for Scripture from A to Z.

C. S. Lewis correctly identifies the passion behind such complex and beautiful verbal choreography:

“This poem is not, and does not pretend to be a sudden outpouring of the heart like, say, Psalm 18. It is a pattern, a thing done like embroidery, stitch by stitch, through long quiet hours, for love of the subject and for the delight in leisurely, disciplined craftsmanship” [Lewis, cited by C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of Psalms, 221].

In other words, the psalmist’s love for God’s Word is not only reflected in the propositional content of the words, but also in the beautifully crafted poetic structure of the psalm.

Here's a 46-day summer project for you. Get yourself a notebook, or journal on your computer, thusly:

• Day 1: read the entire psalm.
• Days 2-23: read an eight-verse section
  • write down what the psalmist says about God’s Word. Expand a little in your own words.
• Day 24: read the entire psalm.
• Days 25-46: read an eight-verse section
  • write down what the psalmist says about himself regarding his own commitments or responses to God's Word. Pick out a response in each section that you need in your life, and ask God to develop that response in you.

 Want to refresh your love for the Word of God? Hang around Psalm 119. It’s really hot!

I love You, Lord, because. . .

This is how Psalm 116 begins. The psalmist goes on to say that he loves the Lord because God answers his prayers, because God has delivered him, and so on.

When you stop to think about it, the psalmist sounds like the ultimate user: “I love you because of what you do for me.”

Of all potential targets of love, surely Almighty God is the most worthy. He is consummately merciful, just, good, giving, righteous, holy, faithful, longsuffering, generous, of unparalleled skill and beauty in His artistry, and much more. Surely we ought to love Him simply because of His glorious perfections of character! Of all that is, He is the most, well, lovable.

Does there have to be a self-interest on our part? Does that not, sort of, grind on your good ‘ol human pride? Do we only love God for what we get from Him?

But that’s who we are. We are totally dependent upon God’s continuing grace (be it common or special), for our very existence. We are weak, contingent creatures, who draw breath only because He upholds all things by the word of His awesome power. We are also sinners, consumed by our ungodly project to supplant the true and mighty God with our pompous selves. Left to our natural selves we are hostile against God, self-declared enemies. We want to think of ourselves as gods, usurping His rule. All the while the truth remains that if He were to turn from us, in an instant our frail little house of cards would collapse.

He alone is self-existent, needing nothing, needing no one’s approval, no one’s love, no one’s acknowlegement. He is complete in Himself, separate from and transcendent above creation and all of its creatures.

But He loves us dearly, because it is His nature to do so. And He has walked among us in the Person of His Son. And we love Him, but only because . . . He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Book Review: C. H. Bullock's Encountering the Book of Psalms

Encountering the Book of Psalms is an excellent, single-volume, introduction to the Psalms. The author writes from a thoroughly conservative standpoint, but at appropriate junctures demonstrates his awareness of liberal speculations scattered throughout the recent history of psalms studies that arise from the various schools of higher criticism. Although he deals with these respectfully and intelligently, he ultimately dismisses them and moves into a scholarly examination of the content of the psalms themselves. Overall, the text is college level but should not be found difficult by readers with a solid high-school education. The pedagogy of the text is excellent: each chapter opens with an outline of the chapter and a set of objectives for the student. The chapter closes with a list of key terms encountered, as well as questions for further study. The book can be used very profitably for individual or group study settings.

Bullock divides his examination of the psalms into three major pieces. The first part deals with the literary and hermeneutical issues of psalms studies. Captions (superscriptions) and the difficult terms found in some of them, the relationship of the psalms to music, the literary structure of the book on a macro level (the five books within the Psalms) and micro level (the structure of Hebrew poetry) are all considered in a scholarly but accessible manner.

In the second section, the author examines the uses of the psalms in worship and faith, considering the different ways in which they can be approached, as well as a history of the use of the psalms, ranging from the original readers through to modern times. Bullock also explores key theological and historical themes that appear in Psalms.

In the final section, the Psalms are considered from the perspective of genre classification. This section is outstanding; the busy pastor or scholar will find plenty of helpful charts that map the genre characteristics to individual psalms. Not only has Bullock presented an excellent approach to classification, he has managed to do so in a manner that is sometimes richly devotional for the reader. Of particular excellence is the final chapter dealing with the imprecatory psalms.

The book concludes with a select bibliography, a handy glossary of terms encountered in psalms studies, and a comprehensive Scripture index. Although serious scholars will need to add more books than this to their Psalms library, if you can afford but one book of prolegomena on the Psalms, this one will serve you very well.

Worth quoting: on gratitude

From C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), p. 162.

The psalms of thanksgiving tap into one of the great spiritual resources of Holy Scripture and offer us a spiritual home where the passions of life can find their moorings in a source outside the human self. One of the great tragedies of the human spirit is to become a prisoner of ingratitude, for ingratitude shuts the human spirit up in a world lightened only by the self, which is no light at all. It creates a dark dungeon of selfishness because there is no horizon to give perspective to an individualistic world. Ingratitude is a closed system that prohibits the individual from opening up to God and neighbor. Gratitude, on the other hand, throws the door to this prison wide open and liberates the soul to thank God for what he has done and to share this spirit of grateful elation with fellow human beings.

In one of my classes at Westminster, I remember my apologetics professor, Dr. Bill Edgar, speaking about someone's salvation experience; I don't recall if he was relating his own, or quoting someone else's. But he summarized it with this sentence: "I finally knew who to thank."

That really stuck with me, as in some ways it mirrored my own experience. I've always loved the natural world, and the natural sciences. As a child and a teen, I marveled at the beauty of the cosmos. When I accepted Christ during my freshman year of a geology major at Colorado State University, it was like going from black and white to color. What had always been a beautiful world, suddenly became indescribably awesome. And I finally knew Who to thank. Worshiping the Creator/Redeemer became the longing of my heart, not some religious obligation.

Gratitude, combined with the joy and freedom of God's total forgiveness in Christ, is life-changing. It certainly changed me!