Psalms Archives - Page 18 of 36

Psalm 109: God Is Not Mocked

Christ Church on August 4, 2019

Introduction

This psalm has been a challenge to many Christians for centuries. It is an imprecatory psalm, and of the most bracing variety. Many commentators have been reduced to saying something like, “We know it is inspired, but we don’t have to like it.” The great C.S. Lewis stumbled over it, saying that God put it in Scripture so that we might have an example of how not to behave. And even Charles Spurgeon said the psalm represented “no small difficulty,” and that “we have need of all our faith and reverence to accept them as the voice of inspiration.” This psalm, he says, “tests our teachableness.” And so it does.

The Text

“Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: They have spoken against me with a lying tongue . . .” (Psalm 109:1–31).

Summary of the Text

The psalmist begins by asking God to not hold His peace (v. 1), and the reason given is that the wicked are not holding theirs. Theyare speaking, they are telling their lies (v. 2). For no good reason, they surrounded David with words of hatred (v. 3). They turn David’s love into their grievance, but David gives himself to prayer (v. 4). They returned evil for good, and hatred for love (v. 5). This ends the first section, which is a statement of David’s dilemma. He then uncorks, and the next section contains some of the fiercest words in all Scripture. Let the accuser be at his right hand, and let Herod have a Herod rule over him, and Stalin a Stalin (v. 6). When he comes to judgment, let the verdict be guilty. When he prays, let that prayer be sin (v. 7). Cut his days short, and let another take his position. This is the verse that was quoted when the apostles replaced Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:20). Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow (v. 9). May those children be turned out into the street, hunting for scraps in waste places (v. 10). May an extortioner take everything, and may strangers pillage him (v. 11). May no one show mercy, whether to him or to his children (v. 12). Cut his posterity off, Lord (v. 13). May the Lord remember the sins of his fathers, and also of his mother (v. 14). May God remember them all, such that He cuts off their memory from earth (v. 15). And why? Because he was merciless (v. 16), and no, this is not lack of self-awareness. He loved to curse, and so may it all return upon him (v. 17). He wore clothing dyed in venom; may that venom sink down into his bones (v. 18). May he be covered with a garment like that (v. 19). Let this be the return that my adversaries receive from the Lord (v. 20). This is the conclusion of the second section, the imprecatory section.

The third section is a plea for deliverance (v. 21), for the sake of the Lord’s name. For David is poor and needy, and his heart is wounded (v. 22). He dwindles like a declining shadow; he is tossed like a locust in a stiff breeze (v. 23). His knees are weak because of fasting, most likely forced on him through adversity (v. 24). He was a reproach to his foes, they shook their heads at him (v. 25). He pleads for God to save him, according to God’s mercy (v. 26). He wants his foes to know that God undertook for him (v. 27). If God blesses, then let them curse. Let them be ashamed when David rejoices (v. 28). May his enemies be wrapped up in confusions (v. 29). The psalmist will praise God with his mouth in the midst of the multitude (v. 30), for God will stand at the right hand of the poor in order to deliver him from those who condemn his soul (v. 31).

Surrendered to Christ

We are supposed to sing this. To the end of the world, the Christian church is supposed to sing this (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). And we are not supposed to sing bad attitudes back to the Lord. And Peter was not shy about applying the imprecatory section of this psalm to the desolation that Judas brought down upon himself (Acts 1:20), and this means that if the antagonist in the psalm was Judas, then the protagonist is Christ. David in his troubles served as a type, but this is really about Christ. And Christ responded to His foes in two stages—in the first, He was like a sheep before the shearers, answering not a word (Is. 53:7). In the second, He was the one who destroyed His enemies with the breath of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8). We want to reverse that order (Luke 9:55), but we must not. We are invited to turn it all over to Him, therefore. Psalms of imprecation are a surrender to the judge of the whole earth who will do right.

God is Not Mocked

We sometimes complain about psalms like this on the grounds of “injustice,” but what really troubles us is the sheer justice of them. We have quietly and surreptitiously switched the categories of mercy and justice. We think that mercy is owedto us, and that if we don’t get it, then that is somehow unjust. But grace that is owed is no grace at all. So the wages of sin is death, and the gift of God is eternal life (Rom. 3:23). Note that death is the pay check, death is the wage, and death is what we have earned. There is an asymmetry between death and life that extends beyond the categories of death and life. There is also the asymmetry of wageand gift.

God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows (Gal. 6:7-8). If you plant thistles, you will harvest thistles. If you sow cursing, then your crop in the fall will be cursing, and your barns will be full of it. Of course, this is not talking about salvation (Eph. 2:8-10). We are notsaved by our works—but we are most certainly damnedby them. Never forget the stark difference between law-righteousness and faith-righteousness. The former is damned by works while the latter is saved by grace.

In addition to all of that, remember the fact that justification is by grace through faith. This does not abrogate the principle that God is not mocked with regard to your sanctification. Let us assume that a man is a converted man, by grace through faith. Now consider two other realities of the Christian life—the blessings that come from obedience and the obedience itself. These are joined together in Christ and only in Christ. The temptation to separate them (by various means) is always the attempt to obtain the blessings of obedience without the obedience itself. The name of this sin is—at the foundation—sorcery.

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

Psalm 108: We Shall Do Valiantly

Christ Church on July 28, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

There is a true theological balancing act that is able to handle two very different sentiments that are both found in Scripture. The first is the response of a humble servant of Christ—“So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). We are to say that we are unprofitable servants, and when we do that, we are doing no more than what we were told to say. But what does the Lord say to us? “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:21). How do we reconcile the two? To paraphrase Spurgeon, we don’t need to reconcile them. Why reconcile friends?

The Text

“O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, Even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: And thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: And thy glory above all the earth . . .” (Psalm 108:1–13).

Summary of the Text

The one who would worship God rightly should be settled in his intention. O God, my heart is fixed (v. 1). He will sing and praise, and will do so with his glory, which is likely his tongue, his faculty of speech. He wakes up his instruments in order to give himself to the task; he wakes himself up early to do it (v. 2). He will praise God among the people, and sing praises among the nations (v. 3). God’s mercy is great above the heavens, and His truth stacks up to the clouds (v. 4). The exaltation that is rendered to God, therefore, ought to reach as high as His mercy and truth do (v. 5)—above the heavens, above the earth.

The psalmist refers to himself as God’s beloved, and asks God to save him with His right hand. Answer me (v. 6). God is holy, and He speaks in His holiness (v. 7). Then David as king rejoices in what God has granted to him—Shechem and the valley of Succoth (v. 7). Gilead and Manasseh are now his (v. 8). Ephraim is the strength of his head (v. 8), and Judah is his lawgiver (v. 8). We then come to the odd image of wash pot and shoe. I take it this way. Moab is the basin that some slave uses to wash David’s feet, and Edom is another slave that he—having taken his shoe off for the washing—throws his shoe over (v. 9). Philistia has been defeated, and David triumphs (v. 9).

Who is going to bring about his conquest of the strong city in Edom (v. 10)? God, is it not you? You have cast us off before, but not now. Will You not go out with our armies (v. 11). God, give us help in our trouble, for the help of man is vain and empty (v. 12). We are God’s instruments, and we shall do valiantly. We shall do valiantly because we are not really doing it. It is He that shall tread down our enemies (v. 13).

That Balance Within the Psalm

“Give us help from trouble: For vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: For he it is that shall tread down our enemies” (Ps. 108:12–13).

David is looking for tangible help in a physical battle. How can he take the strong city in Edom? And so he asks for the help of God in this trouble because, as he says, the help of man is vain (v. 12). Vain. Futile. Worthless. Inconsequential. The victory, when it comes, is through God. David says that it is through God because He, God, is the one who is going to tread down the enemy (v. 13). But with all this said, David does not sit down on a sofa to watch the battle from afar. He does not expect God to smite the adversary with lightning bolts from the open sky. “Through God we shall do valiantly.” So how do we relate the action of God to the actions of men?

God is God

God is always God, absolute and sovereign, and man is always man, finite and limited. We need not concern ourselves with God’s sovereignty of inanimate objects—that presents no difficulty at all. The challenge for us is when we are dealing with beings who have free agency. They are not puppets, and yet . . . God directs them perfectly as well.

Sentient creatures who make choices can be divided into two categories—rebels on the one hand and sons and daughters on the other. The rebels choose wickedly, but their choices are overridden by God such that they accomplish the opposite of what was intended. Remember Herod, Pontius Pilate, and all the Jews (Acts 4:27-28). And if the rulers of this age had known what the crucifixion would accomplish, they would not have engineered it (1 Cor. 2:8). They all had true freedom, but it was not freedom to win.

Sons and daughters lay down their arms, and surrender to Him. In the course of His kindness to them, He gives them everything. But what He gives, on the basis of our new justified status, He gives into us. And we then work it out.

Working In, Working Out

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Col. 1:27–29).

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13).

Shall we, like David, do valiantly? Yes, we shall, but that valiant spirit has to be given to us first. Shall we be Christ-like as we overcome in His name? Yes, we shall. But first . . . the Christ must be given.

Psalm 107: So Let the Redeemed Say So

Christ Church on July 13, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

If there is one lesson that the psalmist would like for us to take away from this psalm, it is the desire that men would learn how to praise God for His goodness. It must follow from this that—either from the difficulty of the lesson or the sluggishness of the students—this is not an easy thing to accomplish. We consider some of the central aspects of this difficulty shortly.

The Text

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: For his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the Lordsay so, Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy . . .” (Psalm 107:1–43)

Summary of the Text

The mercy of God is forever, and so we thank Him (v. 1). The redeemed of the Lord should talkabout it (v. 2). The redeemed of the Lord have been gathered from every direction (v. 3). They were out in the wilderness, and had no city (v. 4). They were faint, and cried to the Lord, who delivered them (vv. 5-6), and led them into their city of habitation (v. 7).

Oh, that men would learn how to praise God for His goodness (v. 8). He fills the hungry soul with that goodness (v. 9). His goodness even extends to sinnerswho are in affliction as a consequence of their own stupid fault (vv. 10-12). When they cry out, He hears them (vv. 13-14).

The point is repeated. Oh, that men would praise God for His goodness (v. 15). He has broken down their prison bars (v. 16), the chains that fools forge out of their own iniquities (v. 17). God breaks those. They are in a bad enough way to abhor food, and are near death. They finally cry to God, and He delivers them (vv. 18-20).

A third time! Oh, that men would praise God for His goodness (v. 21). Let them sacrifice to Him, and declare His works (v. 22). Sailors see the works of God (vv. 23-24). The winds and waves testify by going up to heaven, and down to the depths (vv. 25-26). The men stagger on deck like drunkards, and cry out to God, and He stills the storm (vv. 27-29), and they are glad when He brings them into their haven (v. 30). God is the one who does this marvelous thing, and this is the backdrop to the disciples astonishment when the Lord speaks to the wind and waves, and they obey Him? What is their response? Who is this (Mark 4:41)?

The refrain comes a fourth time. Oh, that men would praise God for His goodness (v. 31). Praise Him in the congregation, as we are doing here (v. 32). Praise Him for His work in raising up and throwing down. He dries up rivers and springs (v. 33), and makes a fruitful land desolate (v. 34)—on account of the wickedness there (v. 34). He can go in the other way as well. He turns the wilderness into a lake, and dry ground into springs (v. 35). He gathers in the hungry, and gives them a city for habitation (v. 36). He gives them fields and vineyards, overflowing with bounty (v. 37). He grants them increase, and will not let their cattle decrease (v. 38).

But there is another turn (v. 39), and the people are brought into affliction. Then He heaps contempt on princes, and throws them out (v. 40). And He sets the poor man in a high place (v. 41), and gives him abundance. The righteous see and understand this pattern, and they rejoice in it (v. 42). Iniquity is shut down and finally shuts up (v. 42).

Do you want to be wise? The one who is wise will observe these things, and these are those who understand the lovingkindness (hesed) of the Lord (v. 43). This is what we must learn to take away.

Affliction from the Outside

We live in a world where hard things happen. Hard things happen to losers and wretches, and hard things happen to saints and sweet people. If we set ourselves up as the judges on the sidelines, we are going to reveal just how ignorant we are. We are going to look at life as though it were a gigantic vending machine, and we are going to take note of who gets their product and who does not. When a nice person does not, when bad things happen to good people, we rail at Heaven as though some kind of injustice were going down.

Or, in order to protect our false assumption, we simply declare that the nice person must actually have been a sinner. Job’s three comforters simply assumed that he must have done something to deserve what he got (Job 2:11). The disciples wanted to know who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind (John 9:2).

Viewed From Within

The hinge of all faithful living is this, found in both Habakkuk and Romans (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17). The just shall liveby faith. And faith knows how to take the affliction apart, and how to examine the inside of it.

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:4–5).

When you look at a blessing from the outside, how can you tell whether it is a Deuteronomic blessing or not? Maybe you are the rich fool in the parable, on the verge of building bigger barns (Luke 12:18). But then there is this . . .

“Honour the Lordwith thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine” (Prov. 3:9–10).

So we are to walk by faith, and not by sight. We are not supposed to figure out whether something is a blessing, and then, having done our due diligence by sniffing at God’s kindness suspiciously, thanking Him for it. No. Our thanksgiving is what makes it one thing or the other. This is applies to thanksgiving for simple blessings, and for the forgiveness that comes with forfeited blessings, but where the blessing comes anyhow.

Christ the Heart of Every Blessing

Christ is the heart of every blessing, and He is what makes it a blessing. Christ is at the heart of every affliction, and He is what makes that affliction into a long haul blessing. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

Psalm 105: Israel and the Tabernacle of David

Christ Church on June 23, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

What we have here is a glorious retelling of God’s deliverance of Israel in the Exodus. In addition, we find that it is a retelling that is theologically sophisticated, on several levels.

The Text

“O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: Make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength: Seek his face evermore. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth . . .” (Psalm 105:1-45).

Summary of the Text

The listener is invited to give thanks to the Lord, and to make His deeds known the people (v. 1). We are to sing to Him, and talk of His mighty works (v. 2). We should glory in His name, and those who seek Him should rejoice (v. 3). Seek the Lord, and His strength, and His face (v. 4). Recall the history of His deeds (v. 5). The descendants of Abraham are summoned to this glorious duty (v. 6). He is God, and He judges allthe earth (v. 7). God is a God who remembers His covenants to a thousand generations (v. 8), for instance His covenant with Abraham (v. 9), Isaac (v. 9), and Jacob (v. 10). This is for all Israel, for an everlasting covenant (v. 10). He promised to grant them Canaan (v. 11), and the promise was made when they were few in number (v. 12). And while they were on their pilgrimage, He protected them as His own anointed (vv. 13-15).

God was the one who called up the famine that brought Israel down into Egypt (v. 16), and He had sent a man before them to prepare for them (v. 17). He was a slave, and his feet were hurt by the fetters (v. 18). Until it was time for Joseph’s word to rule, the word of the Lord tested him (v. 19). The Pharaoh released him (v. 20), and put him in charge of everything (vv. 21-22). Jacob himself came down to the land of Ham (v. 23), and the Jews multiplied (v. 24). God arranged for the Egyptians to turn on them (v. 25), and then He sent Moses and Aaron with the power to work wonders (vv. 26-27).

Though darkness was not the first plague, the psalmist begins with it (v. 28). It was an emblematic plague. The Egyptians worshiped the sun under the name Osiris, and the word Pharaoh includes sunas one of its meanings. He also turned the Nile to blood and killed their fish (v. 29). Another plague was that of frogs everywhere (v. 30). God spoke, and there were all kinds of flying insects, and lice everywhere (v. 31). He gave them hail and fire (v. 32), and He struck their vines, fig trees, and other trees (v. 33). Then there were the locusts and countless caterpillars (v. 34), and they ate everything (v. 35). The ultimate stroke was that of taking the life of all the first born in the land (v. 36). The Israelites took the Egyptian silver and gold at their departure, with Egypt wrecked behind them, and not one Israelite limping (v. 37). The Egyptians were glad to see them go, and God placed a fear of the Jews on them (v. 38). The kindness of God gave the Israelites shade by day, and fire at night (v. 39). He gave the people quail and manna both (v. 40). He opened a rock for them so that they might have water (v. 41). And why? Because He remembered His word to Abraham (v. 42). He brought the people out with joy and gladness (v. 43). He gave them the land of the heathen (goyim), and they inherited Canaan (v. 44). This was so that they might keep God’s laws, and praise the Lord (v. 45).

The Sovereignty of God

While this matter of sovereignty is not the main point of this psalm, it is an assumption that undergirds the entire psalm, and so we should take just a few moments to consider it. You should recall that Joseph attributed the treachery of his brothers to the good counsels of God. “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Gen. 50:20). We see the same thing acknowledged here, which teaches us that God can handle dirty instruments without soiling His hands. How did Joseph get down into Egypt? The psalm says that God senthim there (v. 17)—and this meant that the sale of Joseph into slavery by his brothers was God’s instrument for saving the lives of those brothers, and their families. Trust God, always trust God.

We see the same principle at work later in the psalm. Why did the Egyptians turn hostile toward Israel? “He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants” (Ps. 105:25). You have heard it often, and you will hear it many times again. God draws straight with crooked lines.

The Tabernacle of David

The apostle Paul tells us, flat out, that the inclusion of the Gentiles together with the Jews, was a “great mystery” (Eph. 3:6). It is now plainly revealed in the new covenant, but now, as we search the Old Testament Scriptures, we can see it everywhere—and particularly in this psalm. The establishment of Israel was in fact the hope of the world. Now the covenantal establishment occurred at Mount Sinai, when Israel solemnly covenanted with God. But the dramatic establishment of the nation of Israel occurred in the Exodus. So walk with me through this.

As a moment’s reflection shows, this psalm is all about that Exodus—the birth of Israel.

The first fifteen verses of this psalm are also found at the dedication of the Tabernacle of David (1 Chron. 16:7-22). At the Council of Jerusalem, the Lord’s brother James explicitly takes the prophecy of Amos (Amos 9:11-12) that the Tabernacle of David will be rebuilt as referring to the inclusion of the Gentiles that was happening through the gospel. The building of the first Tabernacle by David was also geared to the Gentiles—consider, for example, the role of Obed-edom. And consider also the fact that while the Tabernacle was dedicated with blood sacrifices, it was not forblood sacrifices. The Tabernacle (on Mount Zion) was reserved for music.

Just as God humbled the brothers of Joseph as His means of saving them, so also He humbled the goyimof Canaan (v. 44) as His means of saving the goyimof the entire earth. Praise the Lord, you people (v. 1), for His judgments are marvelous throughout the entireearth (v. 7).

Good News for the Nations

And so here you are, in northern Idaho, two thousand years after the Lord Jesus accomplished your salvation, and three thousand years after King David prophetically enacted it through the sacrifice of praise.

“For the kingdom is the Lord’s: And he is the governor among the nations” (Ps. 22:28).

“O let the nations be gladand sing for joy: For thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nationsupon earth” (Ps. 67:4).

“Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: All nations shall serve him” (Ps. 72:11).

“All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name” (Ps. 86:9).

All authority, in heaven and on earth, has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ. All the nations belong to Him, because He bought them with His blood. And this is the sure foundation of God’s good news for this sorry planet.

Psalm 104: A Hymn of Creation and Providence

Christ Church on June 9, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Introduction

In this psalm, among many other truths, we see that the Holy Spirit of God is the one who gives all forms of life. “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created” (v. 30).And in the Nicene Creed, which we recited today, we confessed that we believe “in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.” He is the one who brooded over the face of the deep at the first creation, and He is the one who was poured out upon the first residents of the new creation at Pentecost. He is the giver of life, and the giver of new life. In this psalm we are invited to exult in the truths of creationand a detailed providence.

The Text

“Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lordmy God, thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever (Ps. 104:1-35).

Summary of the Text

The psalmist summons up all his internal resources in order to bless the Lord, who is great, and honored, and majestic (v. 1). Jehovah puts on light as if it were a coat, and all the starry heavens are no more than a curtain to Him (v. 2). His beams are set in the waters above, the clouds are His chariot, and He walks on the wind (v. 3). His angels are both wind and fire (v. 4). He set the footings of the earth, making them immoveable (v. 5). He covered the earth with an ocean cloak, covering even the mountains (v. 6). But then He rebuked the waters and they retreated to their proper place (vv. 7-8), and He set the beach for a boundary (v. 9). God is the one who sets springs in the valleys of the hills (v. 10)—and He does this to quench the thirst of beasts (v. 11), the birds that sing (v. 12), and the hills that need watering (v. 13).

He does this so cattle might have grass, and men herbs (v. 14). God’s intention is for men to have wine for the heart, oil for the face, and bread for the heart (v. 15). The trees of the Lord are full of sap, which is referring to the resinous cedars, enormous giants. But it may be reapplied by you the next time you get an overly sentimental birthday card from a pious aunt. Jehovah grows trees so that the birds might have a place to live (v. 17). The high hills are for goats, and cliffs are for rock badgers (v. 18).

The moon marks the seasons, and the sun knows what to do (v. 19). God made the nighttime, and the nocturnal beasts come out (v. 20). Young lions trust in God for their meat (v. 21). The sun comes up and they all go back to their dens (v. 22), while men get up and go to theirtasks (v. 23).

The earth is crammed full of God’s riches (v. 24). Look at the ocean, which has innumerable creatures (v. 25). There are ships on the surface of that ocean, and Leviathan is in the deeps, just horsing around down there (v. 26). When it is time for dinner, they alllook to God (v. 27). They are blessed because God gives to all with an open hand (v. 28). If God turns away, they are unsettled; if God removes their breath from them, they return to the dust (v. 29). If God sends out His Spirit, these creatures come to life, and God renews the face of the earth (v. 30).

The glory of God is constant, and God rejoices in His own creative work (v. 31). He likeswhat He has done. If He looks at the earth, so solid to us, it shakes and trembles, and if He touches the mountains, they smoke (v. 32).

This requires music from us, and it is required as long as we live (v. 33). Our meditation of Him shall be sweet, and we will be glad (v. 34). Deal with the wicked, Lord—and soul? Bless the Lord, o my soul (v. 35).

A Creation Poem

The Septuagint credits this psalm to David, and we don’t have a good reason for disputing it. What we basically have here is a creative retelling of the creation of the world. The psalmist begins by singing of the light and the firmament (vv. 1-6), which is what was created the first and second days of creation. He then moves on to the separation of land and sea, the formation of creeks and rivers, the spread of vegetation, which is all appropriate for the third day (vv. 7-18). The fourth day is celebrated by his song of the sun and moon (vv. 19-23). In verses 24-30, he talks about the creatures that were created on the fifth and sixth day. The crowning achievement of the sixth day, the creation of man, is represented by the psalmist, the one singing about all of this. And we can see the Sabbath rest in the final words (vv. 31-35).

Praise Itemizes

This psalm, just like the previous one, is a praise sandwich (vv. 1, 35). “Bless the Lord, o my soul.” He begins and ends with an invitation to himself to bless God with everything that he has. And what does he do in between? The whole psalm is a mass of particular details. And what this should show us is that since the mentioned details only encompass less than one percent of what could be said, they are meant to make us think of the whole created order. But the cosmos is beyond enormous, and when God painted it, He didn’t use a roller. The entire thing was painted by an infinitely wise miniaturist, with the smallest of brushes. We can look at anything else in the created order, make a list of all sorts of things not mentioned in this psalm—sea lions and hummingbirds—and we will see the same exquisite attention to detail.

Did You Know . . .?

Did you know that whales and dolphins sleep one half of their brain at a time? Did you know that some birds do the same? Sentry birds on the ends of a row of birds? And then the sentries switch places so that the other half of the brain can get some shuteye? Did you know that one strand of your DNA unwound would be about 2 meters long? And because you have trillions of cells in your body, with each cell having one of those strands, if you put them all end to end, the resultant librarywould stretch to about twice the diameter of the Solar System. And did you know that, unlike the twenty foot extension cord in your garage, these strands don’t get tangled up?

The Issue of Glory

When the Darwinists seek to explain the world around us—a world that is just crawling with life—we must never forget that they are engaged in a flight from glory. God is very great. He is clothed with honor and majesty, and devotees of a blind purposelessness do not want to give Him that glory (Rom. 1:21). And it is axiomatic that when sinners do not want to give God glory, the reason is because they want to takeit. And wanting to take glory for ourselves is to sin, and to sin is to fall shortof glory.