Douglas Wilson

Psalm 102: When Smoke Prays

Christ Church on May 19, 2019

Introduction

We have in this psalm a prayer offered up in the midst of desperate affliction. The afflicted are those who feel most in need of answered prayer. They are those who feel like getting an answer is a true long shot. But affliction makes them eloquent anyhow, and it is the kind of eloquence that moves Jehovah. Moreover, the fact that the affliction could be the result of our own sin doesn’t really alter that. God loves the cry of the desolate.

The Text

“A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord, And let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me In the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: In the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; So that I forget to eat my bread . . .” (Ps. 102:1-28).

Summary of the Text

This is a psalm of affliction, and so it begins with the cry of the psalmist, asking that his plea come to God’s attention (v. 1). He asks that God not hide His face in this time of trouble (v. 2), and asks for swift intervention. His days are like smoke, and his bones are like cinders in a cold fireplace (v. 3). His heart has been cut down by a scythe, and withers on the ground (v. 4). He loses his appetite (v. 4). His skeleton has skin stretched over it (v. 5). He is lonely and deserted, like an owl in the ruins (v. 6), and he is like a solitary bird on the roof line (v 7). His enemies won’t let up (v. 8), and his food and drink are ashes and tears (v. 9). His enemies do this to him, but Godis behind it all (v. 10). His days are a lengthening shadow, and he is like crisp brown grass (v. 11).

The psalmist is in deep trouble, and he knows he is praying to a God who isn’tin deep trouble. God will endure, and He will be remembered always (v. 12). Because Jehovah is forever, the restoration of Zion is inevitable (v. 13). God’s servants love her very bricks, and show honor to the dust of her streets (v. 14). Not only will Zion be restored, the heathen and their kings will notice His glory there (vv. 15-16). God will regard the prayer of the desperate (v. 17). This is goingto happen, and God’s people will praise Him for it (v. 18). God peers over the balcony of the very highest heaven, and what does He regard down here? He sees the groaning of the ones in the dungeons (vv. 19-20). These are the ones who, when delivered, will declare the name of God (v. 21), and all together they will praise Him (v. 22).

God is the one who brought in this time of great weakness (v. 23), and the prayer is that God not cut him off in the midst of his work (v. 24). God’s work is forever (v. 24), and He is the one who created all things (v. 25). What He created will perish, while the Creator Himself will not (v. 26). Creation will wear out like a pair of old jeans, while God is constantly the same (v. 27). And because God is constant in this way, the children of His servants will be like Him, and not like the created order which will necessarily wear out (v. 28).

The Grace of Affliction

Scripture teaches us that God brings affliction into our lives—affliction being defined here as something that you are overwhelmed by, something that you do not honestly believe you can handle—in order to teach us how small we are. He gives us particular things we cannot handle to teach us the important lesson that we cannot really handle anything.

Why does God do this kind of thing to us? Because we desperately need it. Our troubles are hand-stitched for us, and they fit the outline of our lives perfectly. “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead” (2 Cor. 1:9). This is it in a nutshell. “That we should not trust in ourselves.”But if we cease trusting in our own abilities (because we know that in our own ability we cannot rise from the dead), what must we do? We must trust in someone else—one who canraise the dead.

Faithful Logic in Affliction

The psalmist here is at the bottom of all his troubles. He is under a pile, which he describes in exquisite detail. He is a flitting shadow. But he then turns to describe God (v. 12). “But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever . . .” Here is the logic, running on a straight line. 1. I am a little wisp of smoke (v. 3). 2. God is eternal (v. 12). 3. Because His character is constant, Zion will be restored (v. 13). 4. When Zion is restored, God will regard the prayer of the destitute (v. 17). 5. I am among the destitute; do not take me away in the middle of this trouble of mine (v. 24).

Luther once wrote that “much religion lies in the pronouns.” This is myGod, and so this is mypromise.

Of the Son He Says

The first chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews seeks to show that the Son of God is much greater than the angels. God says things to Him that He never says to angels (Heb. 1:5-6). He declares that the angels are simply ministering spirits (Heb. 1:7). But of the Son He says . . . “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre” (Ps. 45:6). In addition, God speaks these words, from this psalm, to the Son. God says to the Son, “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth . . .” God says of the Son that He is the Creator of all things. Although the creation will grow threadbare, the Son is the same, “yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

And while we believe the doctrine of covenantal succession (the doctrine that Christian parents are invited to believe God for the salvation of their children), let us never forget that this doctrine finds its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ—as do all life-giving doctrines. Who is God talking to? To the Son. And what does He say to Him? “The children of thyservants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee” (v. 28). Everything coheres in Christ, and outside of Him, all things come apart in your hands.

Psalm 101: The Householder’s Psalm

Christ Church on May 13, 2019

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Introduction

The most likely occasion for the composition of this psalm is shortly after the death of Saul, when it looked likely that David was going to ascend the throne. This is a psalm that declares what he wanted his administration to look like—he is talking about the kind of behavior that will get a man excluded from his court, and what kind of loyal and upright behavior will result in preferment. Another possible occasion for this psalm is when David was about to become the king of a unified Israel, but the import would be the same.

Older commentators called this psalm “The Mirror for Magistrates.” A prince needs to understand the importance of character as he picks his courtiers, and as he selects his cabinet. What kind of people gather around the center of power will determine if it will be a righteous or an unrighteous power.

Bringing the stakes down a notch, another name for the psalm has been “The Householder’s Psalm,” but the principle is the same. How are employers to make their decisions? What kind of servants do you have? What kind of employees?

The Text

“A Psalm of David. I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; That I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord” (Psalm 101).

Summary of the Text

The psalm begins on the right pitch exactly (v. 1). I will sing. Of what? Of mercy and judgment both together (v. 1). Mercy and judgment call for music. The psalmist vows that he will walk uprightly, and does this because he wants God to come to him. And this vow begins where it ought to—“within my house” (v. 2). He resolves not to contemplate anything worthless (v. 3), not to be entertained by what is vile, and he hates the contagions of treachery (v. 3). He refuses to be friends with the headstrong and willful (v. 4). A forward person is obstinately inclined toward disobedience; he has a mind like a corkscrew. David has nothing to do with such men. He also refuses to deal in slanders, meaning that he will not receive them (v. 5). Arrogant eyes he will not tolerate (v. 5). By contrast, he is on the lookout for faithful men, and recruits them to join in the work around him (v. 6). He has a low tolerance for liars as well (v. 7). Having begun with his own house, we see that his final goal is the cleansing of the city of God (v. 8).

How a Throne is Established

When David came to the throne, one of his first thoughts was how he could show mercy to the household of his adversary Saul (2 Sam. 9 ). This is not inconsistent with righteousness—it isrighteousness. “Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Psalm 85:10 ). A new regime, new management, a new order, should start off on the right foot, and the right foot is mercy. But you can’t walk anywhere without the left foot, and the left foot is righteousness, justice, integrity.

Notice how in Scripture a throne is established by mercy, and how it is also established by righteousness.

“Mercy and truth preserve the king: And his throne is upholden by mercy” (Prov. 20:28 ).

“It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: For the throne is established by righteousness” (Prov. 16:12 ).

It is not possible to walk in a biblical integrity without both.

And Holiness Sings

We generally understand that holiness is good, that it is straight, that it is righteous, that it is spotless, and so on. But we also must understand that holiness is musical. Holiness sings. Holiness is happy.

Holiness that does not overflow musically is not holiness at all, but rather severity. Proud men are generally hard men, and strictness is often confused with the holy. But holiness is happy, and so it is that holiness overflows in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Notice the first verse here again. “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing” (Ps. 101:1 ).

But not all that sings is holy. Music that is not holy and happy is simply a gold ring in a pig’s snout. Paul compares high theological pretensions without love to precisely this—jangling and discordant music (1 Cor. 13:1 ), which means that such music must be a really bad thing in God’s sight.

Holiness at Home

There are few things worse than “holiness” abroad that will not (or cannot) maintain the façade while at home. This has been a problem in every era, but it is particularly a problem in ours, when people have started to think that God will judge us by what we decide to present to the public with our Facebook profile. “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart” (v. 2). Are you the same person here at church as you are at home? Has a snarl at the kids ever been transformed into a sweet chirrup because you had to answer the phone? “If you kids don’t get your junk put away in about fifteen seconds, I am going to find the dullest butter knife in the drawer, and I am going to skin yo . . . brrring! brrring! . . . why, hello!”

Cut Them Off

If you are like most of us, you have probably received emails in the past from marooned Nigerian princes who are trying to unload unspecified but enormous amounts of gold bullion. And you wonder to yourself, why do they send these things out? And the answer is because some people answer them. Why are certain things for sale? Because there are buyers out there.

So Christians have a responsibility, not only to not slander, but to not listen to it. We have a responsibility not only to not tell lies, but also to not tolerate liars. If you walk with the wise, you will be wise. If you walk with the conceited, you will become conceited yourself (vv. 3-5, 7). If you listen to the snake tongues, after a point you will be the one with snake ears. Not only do you not have a responsibility to be friends with everyone, you actually have a responsibility to not be. In addition, you have a responsibility to not care what they might think about it, or what they might say about it to others.

What Walking Means

This psalm mentions the importance of walking several times. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart (v. 2). The one who walks perfectly is the man I will employ (v. 6). As one commentator has noted, walking includes the ideas of motion, progress, and moderation. Walking moves, and is not sitting, or lying, or standing. Walking progresses, meaning that it is distinguished from jumping jacks or hopping in place. And walking is moderate—it is not all in a lather to get there. Just one foot in front of the other.

And where shall we walk? In the light provided by the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12 ).

So where do we walk? If we are following Him, we are always behind Him, and never in the dark. And if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and we are cleansed from all our sin (1 John 1:7 ). This in turn gives us something to sing about, and fellowship with others, whom we may sing with. And never forget that if we follow Christ, singing, this means that He is ahead of us, singing also. He is the preeminent singer. When we sing the right songs, with the right heart, and in the right demeanor, we are imitating Him.

“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. 3:17).