Pastor Billington's Blog

Psalm 68-70, Psalm 86, Psalm 101

Psalm 68 is a song that remembers God’s help and protection in the past (for the nation of Israel), and celebrates His continued care and security.

Psalm 68:19 (WEB) “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation.”

Do we spend enough time remembering God’s protection and promises in our own lives? We have heaven waiting for us!

Psalm 69 is a passionate plea for God’s help and salvation. We can easily see ourselves praying it when we feel that life and our enemies are about to overwhelm us. It also foreshadows the ministry and suffering of Jesus (John 2:17; 15:25; 19:28–30; Romans 15:3)

For prayer and reflection: Flood by Jars of Clay

Psalm 70 is very close to Psalm 40:14-16. When we are in trouble we need to turn to God for help!

Psalm 40:14-16 (WEB) “Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt. Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, ‘Aha! Aha!’ Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, ‘Let Yahweh be exalted!’ But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.”

Psalm 86 is another lament. Why do we call out to God? Because He hears us!

Psalm 86:6-7 (WEB) “Hear, Yahweh, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions. In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me.”

Psalm 101 may have been written when David was ascending to the throne. It seems to set for the standards by which he would rule. Those same standards should “rule” in our lives too! Praise. Holiness. Integrity. Humility. Purity. Faithfulness.

Psalms 61-62, Psalms 64-67

Psalm 61: The Lord has saved us and given us an eternal inheritance. Who else would we cry out to when we experience difficulty? He is our safe haven!

Psalm 62: Humanity is nothing when compared to God, but He cares for us. He is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer. We need to trust Him, follow Him, and wait for His help. There is a reminder here that riches don’t profit in the day of wrath (Proverbs 11:4); salvation only comes from God and His Word!

Psalm 64: Here is a cry for protection and help from God. The hope is that the punishment of evildoers will cause others to turn toward Him!

Psalm 65: This Psalm may have been composed as a thanksgiving to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. God is gracious, forgiving, and the hope of everyone on earth! He brings the harvest and the rain, and we should praise Him for His provision.

Psalm 66: God is glorious and we should praise Him! Why? For Israel, it was that their time of trial and testing brought them through to the promised land. Hence the Psalmist can know that God will help him through his difficulty, and that God will hear his prayer and confession. We’re also reminded of the redeeming power of trials in our own lives:

James 1:2-4 (WEB) “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Psalm 67: Another harvest hymn, which looks forward to the great harvest of souls when all the nations praise God!

Revelation 7:9-10 (WEB) “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'”

Psalm 39-41, 53, 55, 58

It’s normal for us to remember the brevity of our existence when life is hard, and to ask God to help us to live wisely and be patient with us even in our sinfulness. Psalm 39 is a reminder that life is short, and that we need to trust God.

Psalm 40 praises God for deliverance, and David offers up his life as a sacrifice to God in thanksgiving. It is also a Messianic psalm:

Hebrews 10:5-7 (WEB) “Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, ‘You didn’t desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me. You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then I said, “Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.”’”

Psalm 41 starts and ends with praise, but includes a lament. Some believe that this Psalm was written about the time when David’s son Absalom tried to usurp the throne (2 Samuel 15). The main point is that God blesses people who are merciful, and He delivers them when they need help. The last verse is a doxology for the first “book” of the Psalms (Psalm 1-41).

Psalm 53 is another version of Psalm 14. Whereas Psalm 14 uses Israel’s covenant name for God, Psalm 53 uses the more generic term. It thereby reflects the wickedness of the entire human race. God will punish sinners and one day establish His kingdom on earth!

Psalm 55 probably references the rebellion of Absalom again, as well as the traitor Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15:31). Anyone who has been betrayed knows the despair that it brings. Although not directly quoted in the New Testament, the Psalm certainly brings to mind the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. In fact, in his Latin translation of the Psalm, Jerome has the title, “The voice of Christ against…the traitor Judas.”

Psalm 58 is a reminder that the wicked will not escape punishment forever. The righteous will have vindication!

Revelation 21:6-8 (WEB) “He said to me, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.  He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.’”

Psalm 35-38

Have you ever been unjustly accused and persecuted? In Psalm 35 David cries out to God for help against those who maliciously and falsely accuse him of wrongdoing. It’s also a Messianic Psalm that not only foreshadows the hatred and persecution of Jesus, but also the hardship that his followers may have in the world.

John 15:25 (WEB) “But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’“

John 15:18 (WEB) “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

In Psalm 36 David contrasts the unrighteousness of the wicked with the righteousness of God.

For praise: Third Day – Your Love Oh Lord

Psalm 37 gives us a blueprint for how to deal with the unrighteous. We shouldn’t get angry or lose our tempers. They will get theirs! We just need to do good, trust God, and not worry.

Psalm 38 is one of seven penitential psalms, including Psalms 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, and 143. The penitential psalms are useful for us when we need to confess our sin and plead with God for forgiveness. This Psalm seems like an intensification of Psalm 6. David’s sickness has gotten worse, and he begs God for mercy. The imagery here is striking, and probably does refer to literal sickness. But we can very easily see how it could be guilt manifesting itself physically in David’s life. Have you ever had a time when you were miserable because of something you did wrong? That misery is an indication of the need for repentance!

Psalms 27-32

Psalm 27 relates the joy of coming to the sanctuary for corporate worship. There is another aspect of it for us though, since we actually live in the Lord’s house! We are the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19, WEB). The Lord has saved us and the Holy Spirit is the light within us. Therefore our private devotions take place in a holy place too, and corporate worship is even more special because of the increased presence of the Spirit!

Psalm 28 is a plea to God for physical help and protection, but it works for emotional, mental, and spiritual protection as well. When we cry out to Him we know He hears and will give us strength.

Psalm 29 shows the glory of the Lord displayed in creation. He is holy, glorious, and powerful. He is our source of strength and peace. All should praise Him, even the heavenly host!

Psalm 30 praises God for salvation from death. Is death the enemy here, or will David’s enemies rejoice because of his death? Here the threat seems to be because of something David did since God was angry at him. However, even when we experience divine discipline, we can rejoice with David because “His anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a lifetime.”

Psalm 31 reminds us that we need to put our trust in God, whatever our circumstances. David’s temporal enemies remind us of our spiritual enemies: death, hell, and the grave. He has promised us a glorious future and a glorious hope. We can trust Him!

1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

What does repentance and restoration feel like? Psalm 32 shows us!

1 John 1:9 (WEB) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalms 22-26

Psalm 22 is a marvelous depiction of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He points us to it by crying out the first verse from the cross, but it goes beyond that. His mocking is portrayed. His thirst is depicted. It even predicts the casting of lots for His clothing! Finally, verse 31, “he has done it” (WEB) may even be a precursor of “it is finished!”
In addition to teaching us about Jesus Christ, it also shows us something about life. Expressions of despair are countered with expressions of faith, reminding us that even when things look bleak, we can put our trust in God. And even though so much may come against us in life, we can boldly proclaim “you have rescued me” because of the final victory that is ours in Jesus Christ!

Psalm 23, the shepherd’s psalm, reminds us of God’s loving care in both life and death. We are promised to live in His house forever! (Note: the NLT doesn’t do justice to verse 4, and the footnote shows us the true intent of the language – “Even when I walk though the dark valley of death.”)

Can you picture Psalm 24 being recited when they were bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem? Can you imagine singing it when the King of glory comes again?

2 Samuel 6:12-15 (WEB) “King David was told, ‘Yahweh has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that belongs to him, because of God’s ark.’ So David went and brought up God’s ark from the house of Obed-Edom into David’s city with joy. When those who bore Yahweh’s ark had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. David danced before Yahweh with all his might; and David was clothed in a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up Yahweh’s ark with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.”

Psalm 25 is an excellent prayer for whenever we are facing outside oppression, the ongoing consequences of our own sinfulness, or both. It is also a good reminder of the need for patience in our walk with God. God does things on His own timetable!

We go from despair to defiance! In Psalm 26 David displays a confidence that we can echo because we are in Christ. In fact, we perhaps should add “in Christ” to the end of the first four lines when we read the Psalm. The Psalm should also remind us of the need for holiness in our lives. We shouldn’t join with the wicked or gather with evildoers. Instead, we live with integrity and publicly praise God!

Psalms 12-17, Psalms 19-21

Reminders from the Psalms:

• While the ungodly can triumph for a time, God does not forget His people forever (Psalm 12, 13).
• Everyone sins. But God has some that are His, and He will protect them (Psalm 14).
• Hypocrisy and worship don’t go together. God would rather have obedience than repentance (Psalm 15).
• Everything we have and look forward to comes from God (Psalm 16). And we have something to look forward to!

Psalm 16:10 (WEB) “For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.”

• David stands on his own righteousness for blessing. But he wasn’t righteous all the time! We have Psalms where he repents, and Psalms where he demands favor based on his behavior. When we come to Psalm 17 we shouldn’t read it like it’s our righteousness that brings blessing, but Jesus Christ’s righteousness that brings blessing!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (WEB) “For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

• We need to have faith and assurance that God will hear us when we pray.

Psalm 17:6 (WEB) “I have called on you, for you will answer me, God. Turn your ear to me. Hear my speech.”

• Both creation and God’s Word reveal Him to us, but it’s His Word that helps us to keep from sin (Psalm 19)!
• Intercessory prayer is a vital part of our walk with God (Psalm 20).
• It’s not wrong to have a song of praise as a battle hymn, but verse 7 is key: “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.“

1 Kings 2:1-9; 2 Samuel 23:1-7; 1 Kings 2:10-12; 1 Chronicles 29:26-30; Psalm 4-6; Psalms 8-9, 11

Is David seeking retribution with his final words? Is he righting wrongs? Or is he helping Solomon consolidate his power, particularly considering what had just happened with Adonijah? Perhaps all three, but is it right? The passage doesn’t make a value judgment – it just records the facts. We can understand it, while still wondering about it.

2 Samuel 23:3-4 (WEB) gives us some guidance for rulers, and for ourselves as well: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’”

Perhaps due to David’s continual protection, preparation, and guidance, we find that Solomon’s “kingdom was firmly established.” If only David had taken the same care with all of his children!

These Psalms of David teach us several things:

• We should praise, praise, and more praise!
• We should cry out to God for protection from our enemies.
• We should cry out to God in penitence for our sins.
• We should express trust in God in the midst of troubling circumstances.
• God’s glory is shown through creation, and the pinnacle of that creation is mankind!
• God is king and ruler of the nations. Victory comes from Him!
• The Lord is the judge of all. No-one can stand before Him. Especially the wicked!

Hebrews 2:6-9 (WEB) reveals that Psalm 8 is also a prophecy about Jesus Christ: “But one has somewhere testified, saying, ‘What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’ For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we don’t see all things subjected to him, yet. But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.”